Messiah
by EisenKoubu
Summary: Imako Tanuma always experiences the same frightening dream every time his anemia kicks in. One day, he wakes up in what's left of his school's clinic, and is rescued by a mysterious individual. After moving to Kazamatsuri, he must try to lead a new life, but it seems he cannot escape from his past, nor from the parties who want him alive for their own reasons.
1. Prologue

I don't know how many times I've fallen asleep. But every time, it's always the same dream.

My vision is muddy, but I can see what looks like trees in my field of vision. There's no light beyond the partially-illuminated trees. I feel disconnected from my limbs. I can't stand up and look around. I can't even turn my head around. I can only see from one angle, as if my head was chopped at the guillotine.

And yet, that angle was all I needed to see her. A mysterious, fearsome girl trudged towards me at a slow pace. I could not make any visible emotion, but I was both in awe and horror at the sight of her. Her blue aura and floating red ribbons were enough to tell me she was not human. Upon closing in on me, she reaches down to touch me, but she jumps back in shock. In retaliation, she raises her ribbons to strike me...

"Tanuma-kun...Wake up!"

I jolt awake. The class giggles and murmurs as I rub my eyes and wipe drool off my mouth. The teacher is looking at me with discontent, but with a hopeless sigh rather than anger. He knows about my condition, my anemia. It's quite sad to both of us that this occurs on a regular basis, but it's hard to find a cure for everyone who has it.

"Sensei, I'm sorry..." I ask forgiveness.

"It's not your fault, Tanuma-kun," he assures me. "But you should stay at the nurse's office until school is over."

I nod, and stand up from my chair at a snail's pace. I limp over to the door and shuffle down the hallway towards the nurse's office.

Our school is small and quite old-looking. The walls are made of old, dull concrete, while the floor is completely wooden. Some of the floorboards are dirty and in disrepair, making the whole place stink of mildew. There's only one floor, so it doesn't take long to reach the clinic.

I slide open the door, but the nurse seems to be out. There's a note indicating where my prescribed meds are, right next to a couple of gray iron tablets. When I first heard of these things, I didn't think they would be colored like iron. Makes sense, though.

I would take these with some water, but the nurse didn't leave a glass for me. There's no water fountain in this school, either. I moisten the inside of my mouth before taking the pills. Right as I take them, my vision blurs and my muscles lose their strength. I don't reach the bed in time before collapsing onto the floor.

* * *

I see the dream, exactly as it was before. I lay there, waiting for the strange girl to show up and touch me. It was such a vivid dream, I wonder to myself if this ever happened before.

I only remember fragments of my childhood. I remember my mother and father coddling me at an early age, sometimes going out of their way to spoil me on occasions. We were never poor, although I didn't understand where it all came from and why my parents had so much free time.

Still, there were times when my parents would bicker a lot. I don't remember at all what they were talking about, but I remember being really scared of them. They would actually try to kill one another in combat, but it always ended in a stalemate, and I had to clean up all the blood later. I don't know what kind of differences they had, but there must have been a reason my parents stuck together for as long as they did.

When I was eight, my mother disappeared. I don't even remember how or why she left us, but I remember my father grieving over her for days on end. He must have really liked her, but I don't remember how I felt about it.

Because that same day was when my anemia acted up.

* * *

I awaken from my dream. The room looks a bit darker than I remember, so I rub my eyes to see if there's something in it. In every direction is nothing but pitch black. I feel around for the lights, but I can't find them anywhere. I swipe around in the empty darkness until I feel something rough, like a tree trunk. With that as a point of reference, I feel around it until I feel something familiar.

It's a door handle. I turn the knob and open the door. Behind it is more darkness. I suspect I'm still in the school, and I just left the nurse's office. That means the exit is to my left. I shuffle towards the exit as fast as I can.

"What does it take to find a flashlight around here?" I complain to myself.

That's when I bump into someone. Frightened, I topple back onto the floor. I wince after feeling glass shards and wood chunks. I can't see the person in front of me, but I know I'm going to die if I stay here. The school has just become a place of death within darkness. No one will hear me scream here.

I'm lifted up by small but strong hands. Someone's carrying me. I don't know who it is, but I suspect this person is good. I would like to pat this person on the head, but my hand hurts. I suspect I'll bleed to death before I find the way out.

Still, I'm glad an angel of some sort will carry my useless body to heaven. I wonder if my mother is there...


	2. September 1st

The alarm doesn't wake me up today. My phone does.

I slip out of bed, feeling too exhausted to go to school today. I reach for the phone while stretching my limbs. I check who's calling.

"Oh, right," I groan, still drowsy and apathetic. I take the call. "Morning, Chizu-san."

"Good morning, Tanuma-kun. I trust you slept well?" She's rather cheery for this time of the morning, whatever time that is.

"Yeah..." I check my phone's clock and groan again. I promised myself at the beginning of the semester I wouldn't be late walking Chizu-san to school, but I think my anemia kicked in again. I might make it if I hurry. "...I'm sorry, Chizu-san. I'll be there soon to walk you over."

"Your dad's going to hear from my parents about this, you know?" She sounds pretty annoyed at me, all things considering. "I'll save you the trouble of repeating myself."

"Yes, ma'am..." I hang up and look around for my uniform. I can't remember the last time I cleaned the thing, but it should have never left this room...

My dad and I moved to the bustling town of Kazamatsuri over a year ago. He received a job opportunity that would improve our living conditions tenfold, and put my future in a high, secure position. A free pass up the ranks of society sounds awesome, but I worried about my classmates from my old school.

"Ah, here it is," I exclaim as I find the crinkled, smelly school uniform. I should wash this tonight, although the same could be said for the rest of my clothes. I put on the jacket, which fits like a glove. These spiffy new uniforms look so much better than the ones at my old school.

Speaking of which, when I asked about my old school, my father told me that I transferred out. I wanted to see my old classmates again, so I snuck out of the house and walked over there. Before I could make the last turn to the road where my school was, I passed out again. When I woke up, we were already on our way to Kazamatsuri. I never knew what happened to my school, and my father never mentioned it again.

"See you later, Dad."

That was the only kindness I could afford him, because he took away everything from me. I can't forgive him for that, not yet anyway.

The pleasant morning of Kazamatsuri's suburban area is a beauty to experience. The suburban streets are clean, and the sun is bright and warm, although I'm going to dread the heat later today. As I run next door, the usual soft breeze blows hard against my cheek. Before I even touch the door, it swings open to reveal Chizu-san's displeased grimace.

"It's about time," she snaps at me.

Chizuru Hanaoka, despite her appearances, is my best friend. Her shoulder-length red hair, light blue eyes, and well-groomed skin made every guy in the school jealous of me. Ever since arriving here in Kazamatsuri, her parents and my dad grew to like each other very fast. When they introduced us to each other, we didn't hit off that well. She had a bit of a temper when it came to strangers, but in school we warmed up to each other at a very slow pace. She discovered my anemia quite by accident, and like everyone else I knew, felt sorry for me.

Of course, even before then, our parents forced upon me the responsibility of walking Chizu-san to school. Being late for school was no excuse to her, and I had to pay for that.

"Sorry..." I apologize as I look away from her gaze.

"Don't just mope there! We've got to make it to first period!" She grabs my hand and yanks me in the direction of the school. And so began the race against time to beat the teacher to first period.

* * *

Kazamatsuri Academy has often been called the pinnacle of efficient education, although I don't think that was a major factor into moving to this neighborhood. I mean, it is a massive campus and has the latest technology available for learning, but when you factor the human element into it, there's always going to be problems. Everyone's mileage may vary. But Chizu-san seems to care enough about it to set a new world record for beating the teacher to the first bell.

"Phew...we made it..." Her heavy panting gives away her fatigue, and for a brief second I feel turned on by it. I look away from her as I pant at the same frequency. Everyone gives us a funny look, while a couple people greet me with hesitance as I slump over to my seat. I haven't run like that in years, and for good reason.

"Are you okay, Tanuma-san? Are you going to fall asleep again?" A male classmate asks me. I shake my head. I don't feel sleepy, just very tired. I swear, those are two different things.

"Do you need me to take you to the nurse's office?" Chizu-san asks me in-between pants. I shake my head again. I raise my head to prove it, just in time for the teacher to arrive.

"Take your seats, everyone," he says as he takes his spot at the front of the classroom. Chizu-san sits on my left, keeping an eye on me to make sure I don't faint.

* * *

Lunch break arrives fast, and it's a miracle I didn't fall asleep. Chizu-san's been watching me almost the entire time. I'm starting to think she's attracted to me.

"Tanuma-kun, where do you want to eat for lunch?" Chizu-san asks me.

"I don't know," I yawn. "I guess the park?"

"Oh, come on. We went there yesterday," Chizu-san quips at me.

"I need all the fresh air I can get," I rebut her complaint. "You made me run faster than I've ever run in my life. I could have died before getting to school."

"Well, thank the holy woman you didn't," she sighs. "Fine, we'll go to the park. But you get to buy us lunch."

I smile in satisfaction. Money isn't really an issue anymore, so it's not like buying lunch is a big deal. I'm just happy I can rest in peace at the park.

Walking through the campus is a mental relief to the both of us. The floral arrangements and clean-shaven grass makes the whole place look and smell amazing. I can imagine how people who have lived here their whole lives would take all this for granted, but there's no denying how beautiful and tidy this place looks.

I grab some cookies and fudge to keep my blood sugar up, while Chizu-san orders some curry rice to-go. Both of us get chilled water bottles, not because they're inexpensive and are promoted by the environmental extremists outside the snack stand. In my defense, I need the water to get my plasma levels up.

We reach the park in no time, although it seems we're not alone this time. Some other girl, a teal-haired beauty, got the same idea. From the looks of it, she's a first-year, but I've never seen her before.

"Come to think of it, didn't everyone say the first-years got a new transfer student today?" I ask Chizu-san.

"You can't possibly think she's the transfer student," she remarks with a skeptical expression.

"There's only one way to find out," I conclude. I walk up to the first-year student, who is sitting on a bench, sipping up her cupra. Chizu-san keeps her distance.

"Hey," I greet her with a warm smile. "I haven't seen you before. Are you new to the Academy?"

The girl stops eating and looks at me. Her eyes are blood red, complimenting her teal hair. Her skin looked more worn than I would expect from a girl, contrasting with Chizu-san's attractive complexion.

"Yes, I just transferred here," she responds in a low voice that, while betraying my expectations, seems to suit her appearance. Is this what they call a kuudere? I don't know, but she seems polite enough. I motion Chizu-san to come forward. She inches like a snail towards me, sitting on my other side so she doesn't have to talk to the new girl. Everyone's happy.

The three of us eat in silence, although I sometimes try to break the ice with a passive observation of the park.

"It's a nice day today," I exclaim while stretching back to catch the sun. The girl nods in reply, but Chizu-san doesn't say anything. Both of them keep eating. "By the way, my name's Imako. Imako Tanuma."

Chizu-san turns to me in a surprised and quite distressed manner. The girl looks up from her cupra and looks into my hazel brown eyes. She doesn't seem angry or annoyed, but she seems to be analyzing my complexion.

"Hitomi Shinsaibashi. Nice to meet you," she replies while extending a hand out to me. I take the hand and shake it once. She looks over to Chizu-san, who scoots back a bit in fear. "Who is she?"

"That's Chizuru Hanaoka," I introduce her. "She doesn't like strangers, so it might be best if you took your time with her." Shinsaibashi-san (man, that's a mouthful) raises a hand in greeting.

"Nice to meet you, Hanaoka-san," she responds to her. Chizu-san turns her head away in an awkward fashion, keeping up a defensive face. Shinsaibashi-san turns her head back to me and lowers her hand to hold the cupra.

"So, what brings you to Kazamatsuri, Shinsaibashi-san?" I ask her.

"...School transfer." She hesitates before responding.

"Well, I guessed that much," I tell her with an odd look. Her uniform is quite different from the academy's, a loose dark blue leather jacket with left-side-oriented buttons. Her knee-length skirt and short stockings are a solid gray color. Come to think of it, it feels like I've seen that uniform before...

"Where are you-" Before I could finish my sentence, the warning bell rang. I realized I had not eaten a single bit of my lunch. "Crap, we've got to hurry!"

Shinsaibashi-san nods and wipes her tiny mouth. Like a bullet, she runs over to the park waste bin and dumps her empty styrofoam cup inside. Then she changes her direction and breaks for the school.

"I don't want to run again..." I groan as I stash away my sweets. I chomp on a piece of fudge as I swing my pack on my back. Then I turn to Chizu-san, who is eating at impossible speeds. Looks like she spent a lot of her time watching us talk.

"Did you just watch us all this time?" I complain to her. She shoots me a mean look.

"Of course not! I was just eating slow!" She yells as she finishes up her food.

* * *

"Stop dragging your feet! The nurse's office isn't that far away," Chizu-san drives me forward.

I fell asleep in class again, so the teacher told me to get some rest in the nurse's office. Chizu-san offered to escort me, and the teacher agreed. Still, she hates missing her lessons and it feels like she's blaming me for that.

The nurse's office is on the first floor, where all the first-year classrooms are located. For us second-years, that means climbing down a flight of stairs from the second floor, and it literally makes me sick.

"Uuu~" I moan like a zombie.

"You're hopeless," she sighs. This continues until we reach the nurse's office. The nurse catches a glimpse of us and helps Chizu-san carry me over to the bed.

"Are you okay?" The nurse asks me. I move my head in a stiff nodding routine before it collapses on the bed in exhaustion. The nurse turns over to Chizu-san. "Do you know what his problem is?"

"Anemia," she responds. "He falls asleep in class sometimes."

"I'll go see if I have any iron pills available," he tells her. "Would you mind looking after him while I check?"

"Yeah, I'll stay," she agrees in an instant. I'm too tired to open my eyes, but I hear a door closing and someone getting close to me. I hope it's Chizu-san and not the nurse...

"Are you still awake?" Chizu-san asks me.

"Yeah..." I whisper, trying not to stress myself.

"Alright. Don't fall asleep on me, okay? I don't want to talk to the wall," she cautions me. It's kind of funny that getting her in serious situations away from classes forces her to talk to people. I wonder if I could get her to start talking to other people that way...

"Chizu-san, can I ask you something?" I whisper to her.

"What?" She responds, her attention on me.

"I don't think you will get this, but how would you feel if you were forced to see the same dream over and over again?" I don't get an answer right away. I can assume she's trying to come up with an answer to that.

"Well...if it were a good dream, I think I would tire of it pretty fast," she responds, deep in thought. "If it were a bad dream, I would go mad from terror."

The frightening dream, with the blue girl and the ribbons, unable to escape from her inevitable attack...it is indeed painful to imagine. Even now, I fear the dream. But I can't help but feel there is a reason I'm seeing this dream. There's some sort of clue as to why my life is the way it is now. But what can it be?

Like a movie theater dimming its lights, the dream begins again. I already feel pain for leaving Chizu-san behind. The angle is the same, the girl arriving is the same, the ribbons reaching out to attack me is the same. I shut my eyes before the attack, but nothing happens. I open my eyes.

The clinic's lights are out, and it's pitch black in here. I don't see any source of light, not even from the door. I look around for the light switch, but all I feel is splintered plastic and metal. Come to think of it, I've been in this situation before...

The door bursts open after that, and a loud voice shouts out. "Who's in here?!" I look from my small corner to catch a glimpse of the person holding a flashlight. I can't see the person, but I can see what her flashlight is illuminating.

A long, thick piece of twisted metal is sticking out of the back of my best friend. Her blood is all over the floor. There's no way she could have survived that.

"Chizu-san..." I whisper her name in silent despair. The flashlight turns to me, blinding my eyes and labeling me as a criminal. I can't be condemned for an accident, but there's nowhere I can run to. All I can do is hope I don't die.

"Tanuma-san? What are you doing here?" All of a sudden I recognize the low, feminine voice. It's Shinsaibashi-san.

"I-I was taking a nap," I tell her, my voice growing timid and fearful. "But when I woke up, it was all like this. Just what is going on?!"

"Part of the school collapsed," she answers me in a very serious tone. "You and I are the only ones on this floor who survived. Everyone else has evacuated."

"Why...? Did I...do this?" I try to bear the thought of being responsible for the deaths of several students, but it's a nightmare to take in. Shinsaibashi-san grabs my shoulder and squeezes it. Her grip is so strong, I scream in pain. "AAAHHH! What was that for?!"

"No one's accusing you of anything," she assures me. "Right now, what's important is getting you out of here. Do you understand?"

I nod, still scared but feeling safer with Shinsaibashi's presence. She grabs my hand and leads me out of the trashed clinic, but not before getting one last look (even though I can't see a thing) at Chizu-san.

* * *

"There's one more!" Shinsaibashi-san yells outside as we exit the building. The light of the evening sunset is a blessing to my fear-ridden eyes. A couple medics grab me and carry me over to a corner of the campus where the injured rest. Shinsaibashi-san follows me all the way there, telling me to keep calm and follow what the medics tell me to do.

When the situation settles down, Shinsaibashi-san holds my hand and looks me in the eyes. "Are you going to be alright getting home?"

Her holding my hand is distracting enough, but her piercing red-eyed gaze is more frightening than comforting. "Uh...yeah," I reply, still a little shaken. I do feel quite better, but so much has happened already. I don't know if I even have the mental capacity to walk back home. Shinsaibashi notices my shock, and tries to calm me down a little further.

"It's okay," she tells me with a comforting tone. She raises her fingers to her lips, then puts it on my forehead. "It will be alright." All of a sudden my head feels relief from all fears and traumas, as if I had a good night's sleep. I look at her with awe and gratitude. "Thank you...but what was that?"

"It's best if you don't know," she responds. "Can you stand?"

I stand up without problems. Looks like I'll be able to get home now. "Again, thank you," I tell her with a grateful smile.

"I have to attend to other patients," she responds, going back into serious mode. "I wish you luck going home." She starts heading towards another student, and I walk to the gate. Before I am out of her sight, however, I hear her say something else to me. "About what you said earlier...it probably is your fault."

I turn back to her in surprise, but she's gone.

* * *

Walking home, I realize our neighbors are going to be distraught when they hear their daughter is dead. My heart sinks again. I miss Chizu-san already. Walking home was often the best time of the day for us. We would talk of our homework, make plans for the weekend, even comment on how good we both looked. Her voice would shrink when we got too close to people, but that's how she worked.

Worst of all, though, I dreaded my father's reaction to all this. If he thought I was the one who let Chizu-san die, he would have a fit with me. I consider sneaking in my bedroom, or running away altogether, but what would that accomplish? I wouldn't survive out there. Kazamatsuri is not a haven for homeless people. I have to face my fears, or die. I walk up to my house, and read the sign that's been plastered on the front door.

"This structure is in a dangerous condition and has been CONDEMNED," I read. My eyes widen at this frightening sign. "What?!" I burst in the door. I notice that the interior of the house has fallen into disrepair. The walls are splintered, the ceiling is cracked and crumbling, and the floorboards suffer from heavy damage. It's like someone took a sledgehammer to the whole place and wrote it off as 'condemned'. But who would do such a thing?

I walk up to my bedroom, taking care not to fall into the weakened floorboards. The amount of damage done to the place is horrid. My bed is in shambles, clothes are torn apart and the electronics are destroyed. Great, there goes my music collection.

I don't know if my father was here to witness this. If he was, he's dead, and I don't care about that. But I need to salvage as much as I can if I want to survive outside. I grab what's left of my stuff: a stashed-away backup hard drive not even the cops could find, a multi-purpose hand tool, and my tattered teddy bear, Reeves. In the kitchen I take what I can, a few items from the cupboards and a couple items from the fridge. The fridge ones are perishable, so I take some ice with me and put it all in a mini-cooler. With that, I face the door.

"Never thought I'd leave like this," I observe with uncertainty. I expected to come to terms with my father and leave his presence with a wife, a car and a smile on my face. Guess I can't win them all.

* * *

I have a destination in mind, but it's far away from here and it's already too dark. I'll have to spend the night at a hotel if I plan to leave town. I come across a bed-and-breakfast at the outskirts of town. As I near the door, I hear someone calling me from afar.

"Hey, kid, over here." I look in the direction of the voice, only to see a hooded woman about my height. I didn't know they had prostitutes in this area of town. Seems every city has its dark side.

"Sorry, I'm not interested in that stuff," I answer her, turning back towards the door. She rushes to grab my arm, and I try to shake it off. "Hey, I said I'm not-!"

"Calm down," she interrupts me. "There's something I want to tell you."

"Make it quick," I request.

"There's a better and cheaper hotel a couple blocks ahead," she tells me. "If you use this pass, you can get in for free." She hands me a laminated sheet of paper labeled 'FREE PASS' with the address to the hotel on the back.

"Um...thanks," I reply, a bit puzzled as to why this shady woman would help a complete stranger like me. "I'll just go now."

As I walk away, the woman utters a few parting words with a smile. "Enjoy while you can, Tanuma-san."

"Huh?" She knew my name? I turn back towards her to ask how she knew, but she is gone. Something's up with this part of town, I observe in my mind. Are people stalking me all of a sudden?

Well, a free hotel room sounds fine and dandy, but it also feels like some sort of trap. I guess there's only one way to find out. I walk a couple blocks until I find the address. The hotel in front of me looks taller and much higher-class than the one I was going to earlier. I read the sign in front.

"GuarGuar Love Hotel and Clothing Store?" What an odd combination. Sounds like it would go out of business before it starts, but it seems to be pretty tidy and thriving. I walk through the revolving doors.

The interior is lit with florescent lights, and the stark white tile floors are an impossible kind of clean. The reception desk in front of me eclipses everything beyond it, and there are nicely-trimmed hedges growing on every side of it. I walk up to the receptionist, a short-blonde-haired woman with wireframe glasses and a very angular face. She looks like something out of a British spy flick.

"Can I help you?" She asks me with a businesslike tone.

I pull out the ticket. "I was given this free pass for a room here," I tell her. She takes the ticket and runs it through a strange, fancy-looking scanner. After doing so, she goes through a couple other machines before giving me a laminated card with both my room number and a strange combination of letters and numbers.

"Your room is on the left, Mr. Tanuma," she tells me in perfect English, pointing to the left. I have no idea what is going on, but I think I've been invited to meet someone. I walk in the recommended direction, and up the massive flight of carpeted stairs.

* * *

I have no idea how far these stairs go. They just keep going forever and ever, and I can't find my room number anywhere. My head's throbbing so much that I have to sit down and get it on straight. I have no idea how I got into this mess, nor do I have any clue how to get out. I can't just leave this hotel and sleep on the streets. I'll be robbed on sight. But I can't make heads or tails of this place, and my anemia's starting to kick in.

A door opens beside me, and a woman with white clothes and a white bandanna wrapped around her head exits through it. I assume she's a cleaning lady, so I ask her if she knows where my room number is.

"Room W29? It's five floors above you," she responds as she points up. Only five more floors? Thank the holy woman. Of course, I thank her too, and make careful steps up the stairs.

A big door labeled 'W' stands in front of me. This is where my room is. I open the door, only to be greeted by a long hallway of more doors. Finding one labeled '29' shouldn't be too hard. I dash my way over to the door with the number and slide my card in.

"Welcome, Imako Tanuma," an automated female voice greets me as the door clicks open. As I open the door, I hear the sound of footsteps coming towards me. I turn my head, but I don't see anybody. I dismiss it, enter the room and then close the door behind me. I start taking a good look at my room...

"We've been expecting you, Imako Tanuma," the cloaked figure in front of me addresses in a monotone, feminine voice.

"Hii~!" I freak out at the sight of her. I try to leave, but the door won't open.

"We can't let you leave just yet," she tells me. "We're sure you have questions about what is going on right now, and it would be a waste to go without satisfying your curiosity."

I stop struggling, and look at her with a defensive stare. "Who are you?" I ask her with a fearful tone.

"All in good time," she responds with a sly smile. "First you must know that you are now under the protective custody of Guardian. You are not allowed to leave this hotel without us knowing about it."

"Why are you people following me?!" I ask, frightened and confused. "Who is Guardian?!"

"Calm down, Tanuma," she tells me in a harsh tone. "Guardian exists to protect humanity. As you stand, it is unclear whether you are a danger to every human being on this planet, or perhaps the key to our everlasting survival."

"What are you...talking about?" I ask as I realize what I'm being asked to do here. Pieces are starting to click into place, but I need more information. "Do you mean to tell me I'm...responsible for the collapse of the Academy?"

"I'm afraid so," she tells me. "The same goes for your old school, too."

"How do you know all this? Who are you?" I ask her once more. The woman removes her hood to reveal long teal hair, glossy olive skin and piercing red eyes.

"I am Hitomi Shinsaibashi," she responds with a firm smile. "I have been assigned to watch you as a representative of Guardian until we reach the gates of Hell. I look forward to our time together." She stretches out her hand in friendship.

My head is still reeling from what's happening, and as a result I feel hesitant to shake her hand. "Why should I trust you?"

"I don't think you have a choice, Tanuma-san," she tells me with a serious look on her face. "That is, if you plan on finding out the truth."

She has a point. If I go out there, I might die before finding out for myself, but I don't like how these Guardian people aren't giving me much freedom to work with. If they can help me find out who I am, why I keep seeing these dreams, and where my mother is, I would be more willing to help.

"To the gates of hullabaloo or whatever, I guess," I say with uncertainty as I grasp her hand. "As long as I don't die before I find out what I want to know."

"You have our word," she nods in agreement.

* * *

I feel so tired right now, I don't devote enough time to looking around the room. I jump onto the bed face first and exhale in relief. I don't have any night clothes with me, so I'll have to sleep in my day clothes tonight. Hitomi just stands there, watching me relax on the bed. I look up to see if she's still watching.

"Are you going to get some sleep?" I ask her while yawning.

"Yes, after you," she responds.

"Oh, I see..." My drowsy voice drifts off into a relaxed sigh.

I drift off into the same dream as before. My head is still stationary, I can't move my body and the ribbon girl is still walking towards me. It's only a matter of seconds before she reaches out to touch me.

I never understand why the girl is so resistant to touching me. I know I'm not the most handsome guy around, but a person with grave injuries deserves some help. But when she touches me, it's as if it hurts her. Why is that? Am I destined to destroy this girl? What did she do to deserve destruction?

Before long, the ribbons reach me, and I jolt awake. The lights are off, and it's pitch black. I reach for my phone to check the time, but my left arm feels like it's been stabbed. I reach for my left pocket with my right arm to grab my phone, and power it on.

"Great," I sigh in a whisper. It's three o'clock in the morning. I still feel a bit tired, but I can't go back to sleep now. I look around for Shinsaibashi-san, but she's nowhere in the room. I feel relieved that she's not watching me like a hawk right now, but I don't know if I can leave the room yet.

"Huu..." I hear soft breathing. I turn towards it, and I find Shinsaibashi-san sleeping on the floor beside me. Her hair is a mess on the carpeted floor, and who knows what kind of carpet burns she'll have in the morning?

"Hey, Shinsaibashi-san," I catch her attention as I shake her awake. She jolts up with insane speed, and draws a massive knife against my throat. I retreat back against my bed, shocked at her aggressive awakening. "Uh...Shinsaibashi-san?"

"Oh, it's just you," she sighs as lowers her knife. I can't see her face, but I could feel a massive lack of mercy coming from her. She would have killed me if I didn't speak up. "What do you want at this hour?"

"I was just wondering if you were feeling comfortable sleeping down there," I confess as I catch my breath. She seems to pause for a few seconds before speaking.

"Is that a problem?" She asks me with a low voice.

"Well...I don't want you to feel uncomfortable," I respond. "If you prefer sleeping down there, I won't mind. But I thought it might serve you better to sleep up here."

"I can't do that," she affirms me. "Sharing the same bed would be ridiculous."

"Then I'll sleep on the floor," I tell her. "It's not like I'm an honored guest here. If anything, you deserve this bed for all the hard work you did today, saving everyone's lives and all."

"That's...very kind of you," she answers in a softer tone than usual. "Perhaps it might work to our advantage, then."

I wasn't sure what she was talking about with that last line, but we ended up trading places. Just as I figured, the carpet is pretty scratchy and rough, but I'm not the least bit sleepy. I can hear Shinsaibashi-san's sleeping breath already, though. She must have it pretty hard with whatever they make her do in Guardian.

Come to think of it, what does Guardian do anyway? Shinsaibashi-san said they exist to protect humanity, but that was kind of vague. Why is humanity in such desperate need of protection, and how do they accomplish such a thing? Which part of humanity deserves protection, anyway? The rich? The intelligent? The moral? I don't think every person is worth saving, so why go to all the trouble to save everyone?

* * *

Hello, everyone! EisenKoubu here. Thanks for taking the time to read this fanfic! Rewrite has been one of my favorite visual novels, and I thought I could try my hand at creating a story in that same universe. There's more to Imako's story coming soon, so keep your eyes open for the next day of events! :)


	3. September 2nd

I open up my phone to check the time. Sunrise isn't for another six hours. That's plenty of time for practice. I take out my pack and dig around until I find Reeves.

"Let's see if I can still do this," I mutter to myself. I take the two fingers of my right hand and feel around the body of the bear. I scan once, twice, three times. When I come across the right eye of the stuffed bear, I feel my fingers being pulled into it. I focus on that one spot...

"Arise," I whisper. I raise my fingers at a steady rate, and the bear rises from its inanimate slumber. The stuffed toy faces me, as if expecting a command. This is a ritual I have maintained for the past few years now. My father taught me how to animate this doll when I was eight, and I found it both fascinating and exhausting at the same time. Every time I attempt this, it tires me. I did it often during the nighttime to get me to sleep, although sometimes I would fall asleep faster when my anemia kicked in.

"How are you doing, little guy?" I whisper as I wave to it. It waves back in response. "Can you check something for me?"

I point towards the window, and it walks in a limp stride. I close my eyes and focus, and soon Reeves' eyes and ears become my own. My tiny stature overlooks the lightened city below. It's a pretty sight, and I think about what the people in this town are doing, what my father is doing, what Chizu-san's parents are doing. It's still possible they're alive, but if I met them in the midst of all this political endeavors, what would I say to them? There was nothing I could do to save her. If only I wasn't a ticking time bomb...

"Come back," I whisper. Like a loyal soldier, the plush bear follows my command without delay. It stops right in front of my face, and I open my eyes.

"Thank you. You may sleep for now," I utter thanks to him. The bear makes a polite bow, then falls limp on its face. I feel a little more tired now, so I lay on my back to get some sleep.

* * *

When my eyes open again, I check my phone for the time. Five o'clock. I see if I've received any messages.

My PlaceBook notifications are nonexistent, as always. Same goes for Chirper and my email. Seems like everyone forgot I existed in the time I spent here. Figures. I never spent much time making connections with people over at Kazamatsuri Academy. I mean, there was Chizu-san, but she was kind of forced to spend time with me.

I put my phone away and stretch my limbs, facing the sun. The glass wall in front of me has a nice view of the city, along with the expansive forest border surrounding it. Kazamatsuri is such a pleasant-looking place, you can't help but feel there's some kind of catch to it. Seems I stumbled onto it last night.

I turn back to the bed, where Shinsaibashi-san is still sleeping. She must have been the oddest baby when she was born, but maybe God has a sense of humor in giving her such a color palette. Her teal hair seems to blend in like a watercolor painting with the vanilla sheets of the king-size two-person bed. Why am I in a love hotel again?

"Hey, wake up," I urge her as I shake her awake again. Her eyes jolt open, and she draws her knife again, pointing it against my throat. I jump back again. "Holy crap! Can't you tell when someone's trying to wake you up?!"

She sighs in response, and sheathes her knife. "Can't be too careful, even in a private place like this," she mumbles in a low voice. "We still don't know if you can be trusted."

"Who's we? Guardian?" I ask her in a direct manner.

She nods. "Guardian doesn't like it when people jump ship for some selfish cause. For all we know, you could just be using our deal to find what you want, and then throw us away."

"Why would I do that? I don't even know who you people are," I answer her, confused at her prediction.

"All in good time, Tanuma-san," she smirks. "I will be taking you to Guardian headquarters for briefing and breakfast. I hope you like powdered scones."

"Uh...sure," I respond, unsure of what to say. She saying this all nonchalant, as if putting me on a leash makes her happy. Guardian must be a place full of tough people if she's anything to go by.

* * *

Instead of going outside, we are led to a hidden elevator leading to a tunnel underneath the hotel. The elevator itself is small, and neither of us say a word as we go down. When the doors open, Shinsaibashi-san leads me down a dim corridor. Sometimes we pass by some people in dark business suits or tight leather outfits. I feel like I'm being pulled into some sort of drug cartel or something.

We soon stop in front of what looks like a regular office door. Shinsaibashi-san stands by it and motions me to go inside. It's just a simple door, but I feel nervous, like I'm about to make a life-changing decision. Once I step through this, my life as the student Imako Tanuma ends.

"Hurry up," she prods me.

"Fine, fine," I bite back, opening the door.

All eyes turn to me as I enter what looks like a conference room. Shinsaibashi-san enters after me and scoots her way past me. She says something in English, but I can't tell what it is. A woman with purple hair and a sleek periwinkle suit responds to her in the same tongue. As Shinsaibashi-san bows and leaves the room, her eyes turn to me.

"You're Tanuma-kun, right?" She asks me.

"Y-yes," I stutter, confused and scared like a lost puppy. The woman smiles in response.

"No need to be shy," she assures me. "I'm sure you've been through a lot as of late. Come, have a seat. And a scone."

I shuffle to the nearest empty chair and help myself. The scone itself has a light amount of sweetener to it, but I see someone dip it in a small bowl of honey, so I try the same. The result is blissful heaven. Much of the conversation is in languages I can't understand, although I manage to pick up one tangent spoken in Japanese.

"You know, with all this talk of the Key, it sure helps to relax and eat," one gruff man in a homeless getup mumbles. "How about we call it a day and go get some toffee?"

"I'll take you up on that offer," another man with orange hair replies. The majority of the members stand up and go their separate ways, again speaking in strange tongues. The only people who remain in the room are the purple-haired lady and myself.

"Scoot up a little closer, Tanuma-kun," she invites me. I move to a seat closer to her, while taking the last two scones with me. "You sure do like those scones, huh?"

"Mmh, uhum," I mumble while eating. It's rare to experience such an amazing food. The woman giggles at my obsessive eating habits.

"Well, I suppose Hitomi-chan has told you everything, has she?" She asks me. I swallow the food in my mouth and prepare to speak.

"...I have so many questions," I respond. "First of all, who is Guardian? What do they do?"

The woman moans in response, perhaps because Shinsaibashi-san didn't bother to tell me all this beforehand. "Well, let's start with the basics," she begins. "Guardian is an organization dedicated to protecting humanity. It has existed since the dawn of time, for the sole purpose of maintaining full control of our destinies."

"But why does humanity need to be protected?" I ask. "What is it that's trying to rob us of our so-called 'destinies'?"

"I'm not sure if you've heard this in our conference, but we seek a being called the Key," she replies in a serious tone. "The Key is the will of the Earth. If it deems humanity incapable of satisfying its conditions, it will commence what it calls 'salvation'.

"Salvation? Will of the Earth? What is all this about?!" I ask with massive confusion.

"Salvation is the renewal of the Earth at the cost of living souls," she explains. "Should the Key deem humanity insufficient at maintaining the Earth's energies by themselves, it will become the center of the renewal. Think of it as like a central tree growing into a massive rainforest. Every manmade object will crumble away, every human soul will be absorbed back into the dust from whence it came. The Earth will thrive, but all of humanity will perish in the process."

What a frightening prospect. I saw a documentary once about what would happen to manmade structures after an apocalypse that wipes out all civilization as we know it, and I couldn't bear to watch it. That's what this feels like to me. The thought of every person, both good and bad, losing their lives for the sake of restoring the Earth to a more habitable form sounds...

"Scary, isn't it?" She suggests as she makes a harmless smile.

"A little, perhaps," I respond. I'm not sure whether to agree with her, because I feel it sounds like a noble cause, giving yourself up to save the Earth. Then again, if the Earth wants everyone to perish, it makes the Earth sound like some kind of gluttonous jerk.

"Well, I hope we haven't caused you too much trouble, but we need you to know how serious the situation you've gotten yourself into is," she clarifies. "After all, you stand in a very dangerous spot with everything that's happened to you in the past couple years."

"You mean with the collapses of my schools?" I ask her. "If I'm in trouble just because of that, I might as well just turn myself in."

"Oh, we both know you don't want that," she chuckles. "I think there's a lot you still have to live for, given how many questions you have."

"Well, if the purpose of my existence was to ask questions, I'd much rather find a better destiny," I state to her.

She makes an enthusiastic giggle. "I like that kind of thinking," she exclaims in joy. "I think you'll find that what we have in store for you here might benefit you greatly."

"In what way?" I ask with great curiosity.

"Well, first there's the issue of your power," she lists off. "If you cooperate with us, we can help you harness that power into something productive rather than something that destroys buildings for no reason." She does have a point with that. I would like it if accidents like Chizu-san's death didn't happen again. "We've also found that you don't have parents or a place of residence anymore. If you'd like, you can request your own private residence anywhere in the world." Okay, that sounded too good to be true. It's a very enticing offer, but I'm a bit skeptical. "Finally, once you get in the hang of things, you'll be paid a very handsome sum of money for helping us fight off our enemies, including the Key." I knew there had to be some sort of catch to all this.

"I'm no fighter, though," I confess.

"That's not a problem," she replies with confidence. "Any power can be controlled to some degree. We just need to figure out what your power is, and what we can do to help you master it. You'll be working with some of our finest combat instructors, including myself."

"What about Shinsaibashi-san?" I ask out of the blue. I'm not quite sure why I thought of her before anything else, but I guess it has to do with the fact that she's the only other person I can trust at the moment. The woman seems to be shocked at my question, and I half-expect her to smile again.

"Hitomi-chan is quite busy at the moment," she responds with an expressionless face. "We only brought her in because she was the most familiar agent to you, and if we had sent somebody else, we feared you would be less inclined to agree."

"Oh," I utter out a halfhearted reply. I was a little disappointed, sure. But never in my wildest dreams had I imagined I would be separated from Shinsaibashi-san. In fact, didn't she say that she would watch me until we reached the gates of Holland or whatever? It's kind of stupid for her superiors to just change their minds like that.

"Ma'am, whatever your name is," I start. "I have a couple conditions before I join. Will you listen to what I have to say?"

"You can call me Nishikujou," she responds with a smile. "Of course I will."

"I have no personal ground in any of this," I continue. "Everything I've known and loved is gone, and being thrown into such a strange new part of the world scares me. Shinsaibashi-san is the only anchor I have to those days. You've got to let her stay with me."

"Oh," she opens her mouth in surprise. "What is this all of a sudden? Did you two make a promise or something?"

"Y-you could say that," I look away in embarrassment. I take a deep breath, then look back at her with a fixed, determined stare. "She told me she was assigned to watch over me until we reach the gates of Hullapalooza or whatever she said, and I agreed to that. You can't just force that apart. I need her."

Nishikujou giggles, then lets out a joyous laugh. "Oh, I see how it is now! You remind me a lot of another youth I know who got to know another of our agents a little more intimately than he should. Except you have something he doesn't."

"What's that?" I ask her, curious.

"A strong, honest heart," she responds with a beaming smile. "Hitomi-chan could learn a thing or two from you. Alright, I'll honor that request. Did you have another one?"

I breathe a sigh of wholesome relief. I didn't think my request would be considered so seriously, and the fact that this lady knows the situation well means I might just survive. I look back at her with a soft smile, then clear my throat. "I want to visit my old home again."

* * *

The loud, whirring blades of the helicopter slowed to a stop as it landed on solid ground. The autumn air had already transformed the place into a sea of orange-brown leaves amidst bright green grass. This was my old home, my old neighborhood, with my old school just a few blocks down the road.

"We have an hour," Shinsaibashi-san tells me in a serious, but soft tone of voice. A reasonable time limit, if I do say so myself. I step off the helicopter and walk up to the house slowly.

I've always seen in movies, during those scenes where a character is walking towards a place he used to know, that the camera would pan slowly as he or she walks. I take my time with every step, mimicking that dramatic feel to it.

"Can you go any faster?" Shinsaibashi-san urges me.

"You can't rush nostalgia," I tell her. I do end up picking up the pace a little bit, under fear my time might run out before I even reach the door. I check my phone. Only three minutes have passed so far. I turn the knob and walk inside.

I look around the place I used to know. The whole place is a box of amber wood, the floor looking no different from the walls and ceiling in color or texture. It's like living in a clay structure with windows. You wouldn't get that idea from the outside, which is made of white brick and has an ebony roof. Without furniture, however, the interior is hollow and empty. Shinsaibashi-san looks around with an analytical eye, looking around the place to check for traps.

"This house is pretty old," she points out. "Theoretically, it's the perfect location for a member of Gaia to live, given how it's near a forested area."

"Gaia?" I ask. There she goes with another term I don't understand.

"They are our greatest enemy," she explains with a cold voice. "They stand for everything we don't."

"But I thought the Key was your greatest enemy," I throw out.

"Gaia wants the Key to bring about the end of humanity," she continues in a bitter tone. "They believe humanity is unfit to live on this Earth, the suicidal maniacs." Geez, she must have something hard against these people. Perhaps they did something horrible to her in the past?

"Are we done here? I want to get back to base," she nags me.

"No, there's one more place I need to see first," I respond as I turn back to the door. That's right. I need to find out what happened to the school. Perhaps it's been rebuilt since I left, but I need to see for myself.

* * *

Shinsaibashi-san and I pace our way towards the school until we come across a detour.

"Oh, what now?" I run past Shinsaibashi-san and find a barricade full of police tape and orange cones. The road to school has been torn up by construction workers, but there's no one stopping anyone from coming in.

"Tanuma-san, we should leave," Shinsaibashi-san urges me with a cautious face.

"Why?" I respond. "Is something coming after us?"

"No," she shakes her head. "But I feel something bad up there. If you cross, you may not come out alive." The prospect shocks me. There's someone at the school? There's no possible way anything could be living out here. I'm not inclined to believe Shinsaibashi-san has some kind of danger-sensing power, although she did heal me just by touching me a while ago. Should I trust her words?

"I'll go in anyway," I decide. "Regardless of what's out there, I need to find out the truth." I step beyond the tape, and trudge forward. I look back towards Shinsaibashi-san, who refuses to budge. "You coming?"

She shakes her head. "I don't think I can save you from this," she utters. "If you go out there, you go alone."

I pause for a moment, then look back at her, nodding my head. "I'll miss you." I turn away, but not before catching a glimpse of surprise out of the corner of my eye. I try to hide a smile from stretching across my face as I step deeper into the thick brush.

* * *

I'm starting to think Shinsaibashi-san was right. I'm heading deeper into an obvious trap I can't back away from. Finding the truth is just too important to me.

The signs came up just a few feet along the road. I could hear the sound of crawling across leaves, then I notice the sky is getting dark a lot faster. I check my phone for the time, but the battery is somehow dead.

"What the heck?" I couldn't believe it myself. This is starting to set up like some sort of horror movie. I put my phone away and take out my multi-purpose hand tool, switching to my pocket knife. It isn't much to defend myself with, but nothing's going to stop me from finding out what happened to the school.

The air gets heavier with every step. Soon I'm at the point where my vision gets hazy, and my knees weaken. I fall to my knees, my body unwilling to go on. If my anemia acts up again, I might not be able to make it. What sort of force is keeping me from reaching out to my past? Is it my own guilt? Do I believe I killed everyone in the school? It's a hard concept to grasp even for a seventeen-year-old like me, but there's no fixing it. What's done is done. But I still have to find out if the fault was my own to begin with. I stand up at a slow but sure pace, and limp forward, fighting this storm of darkness.

The rustling gets louder. The wind starts blowing noticeably hard and fast. I can't see the path anymore, but I know I'm going the right way, because the storm is getting more forceful. I open my mouth to yell in frustration, but no sound comes out. I fear my ears may go deaf from the loud noises.

I take one more step, and everything stops. The darkness is gone, the winds have ceased, and the noises are silenced. In front of me is an incredible sight. A massive wall of black surrounds the otherwise bright area. In front of me is a dilapidated one-story building that looks like it's ready to fall apart. Nevertheless, I recognize it. It's my old school.

"No way," I whisper aloud. So I...I did destroy the school. I _am_ responsible for the death of all my classmates. Somebody had to hide all this from the public to cover up who did it, but who? And why?

My pocket vibrates. I check my phone and discover that someone sent me a text. I guess the storm was interfering with my phone for whatever reason.

 _Tanuma-san, are you still out there? We have five minutes left. Can you hurry back, please?_

I figured it would be from Shinsaibashi-san, but how did she get my number? I'll have to ask her when I get back. I type out a reply to her with all speed.

 _Yeah, I'll head back. Wait for me, okay?_

I send the message, and look around for an exit. It seems the best way to get out is back the way I came, but that might prove a little difficult. Before I try to leave, I hear a rustle. I turn towards the sound, and my knees tremble at the sight.

A silver-haired, pale-skinned girl, with blue-gray eyes and a strange black dress, stood just a few yards away from me. Wrapped along her arms are scarlet ribbons, which make little sense in the way of practical fashion, but I doubt their use is anything fashionable. A bright blue aura emanates from her fragile, almost ethereal body, and her melancholy gaze is fixed upon me, as if expecting me to do something.

Well, if I don't do something, I'm going to die here. I feel I've seen this girl before, many, many times over. This...this must be the same girl who approached me in my dreams. On the other hand, the same girl attacked me in my dream, so I can't be too careful.

It's then that my pocket vibrates again. I pull out my phone to check the new text.

 _There's no time to wait. We've detected the Key in this area._

The Key, here? Man, there's too many horrible things happening today. I text a reply as the girl steps forward just a bit.

 _Go on without me. I don't think I'll be coming back alive._

It's a bit of a worrisome message, but I have to let Shinsaibashi-san know about my situation. I hit send and pocket my cell phone. I face the girl, who is inching just a bit closer.

"Wh-who are you?" I utter with an anxious stammer. The girl says nothing, but continues to step forward. When she closes in on me, I can feel sweat on my brow. She reaches out a hand to touch my face, and my body stiffens. "Save me, please..." I utter to whatever deity is watching over me. As the hand grazes my face, I feel a jolt of energy surge from my face to the girl's arm. She jumps back in surprise, and her ribbons come alive in retaliation. It's a repeat of the dream all over again. I'm going to die here. I don't want to die. I still need to know what happened to me, what happened to my mother, why my friends and family passed on...

"I can't die yet!" I scream as the ribbons extend towards me to end my life. Just as they strike me, they break apart. I put forth my hand to catch one, and it crumbles into dust in my hands. The girl looks shocked at this discovery, as am I. There's a reason I'm still alive, and that's because she couldn't kill me. I am invincible. My fear melts in curiosity, then confidence. This girl is all but harmless to me.

I step towards the girl, and she sends out more ribbons to protect herself. But with the tables turned in my favor, it's all hopeless for her. Each ribbon breaks apart with a swipe of my arm. The girl falls over backward trying to escape, and trembles as I get closer. I stand over her, with a determined face on.

"I'll ask you again. Who are you?" I utter in a stronger voice. She hides her head beneath her hands in response. Seems like she's scared of me. I'll have to talk a bit softer. "Look, I'm not going to kill you. I just want some questions answered." I sit down in a comfortable spot beside her to show her I mean no harm. It doesn't seem to work, as she scampers away inside the school.

"Hey, come back!" I plead to her as I get up and follow her. I head inside the ruined school, ignoring the fact that nobody bothered to clean the place up from the last time I was here. Large shards of glass and wood splinters get kicked away and stepped on as I continue my pursuit of the girl. She hides in one of the rooms on the right, and I pursue her inside.

The room feels so familiar. I recognize it as the clinic where I was sleeping the day the school collapsed. The girl cowers in fear underneath a stretcher bed as I come closer to her.

"It's okay, I won't hurt you," I tell her in a soft voice. She responds by throwing shards of her ribbon at me, but they dissolve upon contact with my skin. Her face grows even more pale than it already is, as if white cream was applied to her face. I have a feeling she's avoiding me because of my skin, so I look around for a cloth or glove of some sort. For some reason, this abandoned clinic still has a box of disposable gloves in decent condition. I slip some on and approach her again.

"Here," I smile as I offer my hand. "You should be able to touch my hand now."

The girl reaches out to my gloved hand, and I grasp it with a soft grip. She stands up to meet my height, and looks me in the eyes.

"You..." She enunciates.

"Yes, I am me," I respond. With all likelihood, it's not what she's asking, but why not liven up the mood here with a little joke?

"No...you are..." She tries hard to mince out the words, but they don't seem to come out. I wait with patience for her to finish. "You are...Messiah..." Messiah? As in savior? The savior of what? I want to ask her this, but she continues to speak strange things to me. "You will...bring about the end...of all things..." What on earth? That doesn't sound very Messiah-like. Nevertheless, she continues. "Those that remain...you will bring to safety...on new earth." Okay, that sounds a little more Messiah-like, but wouldn't that constitute saving everyone, not just a select few? I want to ask her so many questions, but the flash of a knife prevents my mouth from opening.

"Tanuma-san! Get down!" I hear Shinsaibashi-san storming in screaming. With reluctance, I crouch down and hide my head with my hands. I hear several slashing sounds and a small explosion as one of the walls gets blown away. I hear Shinsaibashi-san curse as she pulls out her radio. "Chopper 21, I have Tanuma-san, but we lost the Key. We need a lift. Over." She sighs and puts away the radio, turning her gaze onto me. "Can you stand?"

"Yeah," I respond as I brush myself off. "Don't tell me that girl was the Key..."

"Yes," she nods, panting from fatigue. "That was the Key."

* * *

Upon returning to headquarters, Nishikujou and a couple of her agents arrive to help us off the helicopter. Her mixed look of anger and worry is enough to frighten me.

"What happened out there?" She questions the both of us.

"We found the Key at the abandoned school site," Shinsaibashi-san starts explaining. "Tanuma-san got to it before I did, but he let it get away." She shoots a nasty look at me. Nishikujou looks to me with disdain.

"Hey, don't look at me. I didn't know it was the Key," I explain, anxious to uphold my integrity. "I just wanted to know what happened to my school, and I found her there. She started attacking me at first, but she couldn't hurt me. I tried to talk to her, and she gave me a strange message..."

"Tanuma-kun, stop right there," Nishikujou asks me. "This isn't the right place for that kind of information. Please follow me. You too, Hitomi-chan."

Like undisciplined children heading to the Principal's office, we follow Nishikujou with our heads low. Going down the main corridor, we stop at a particular door with a single horizontal slash on the nameplate. Nishikujou opens the door and motions us inside. She closes the door behind her, and turns to face us.

"This is the silence room," she explains. "This is a place where we can convey our biggest secrets without anyone outside knowing." We nod in understanding, although the practicality of this room remains a mystery to me, considering that Guardian is such a secretive organization already.

"So, Tanuma-kun, can you tell us what you saw again?" She asks, in a much more polite manner. I repeat to them everything that happened over at the abandoned schoolyard. Shinsaibashi-san listens with careful attention to the details, but Nishikujou looks puzzled. "Hm, this is a very interesting story. So you're saying that you have the power to kill the Key?"

"I believe so," I reply. "But the Key had a message for me, something along the lines of me being some kind of Messiah." Shinsaibashi-san turns to me with surprise and curiosity, but Nishikujou frowns.

"Hmm," Nishikujou thinks even harder to herself. "Supposing the Key is right, you may just be the person we've been looking for. Tanuma-kun, I feel you might be ready to know what we've planned to do for you."

"What plan is that?" I ask her.

* * *

Hello again! EisenKoubu here. Thank you all for reading this far! Sorry to end on a bit of a cliffhanger, but now that Imako's destiny has been set forth, it leaves us wondering what will be in store for him now. The answer will come soon, but probably not as soon as you might think. There's still a bit of editing I need to do before I can get the next chapter out, but I hope you're all looking forward to it!


	4. September 3rd

"I still think this is a stupid plan," I lament on our way to school.

"Tell me about it," Shinsaibashi-san groans with me. "I just hope we find the information we need about the Key soon."

The plan was simple, really. Shinsaibashi-san and I would go back to being students for a while in order to get information from suspicious characters about the Key, and during breaks we would sit together and relay what we have found. But there's a problem. We have to blend in as students without flaw, so Nishikujou suggested that we pretend to be a couple. Both of us objected, of course, but she said she would assist us if we go on with the plan.

I notice out of the corner of my eye that Shinsaibashi-san is leering at me with scary eyes. "Is there any reason why you're staring at me like that?" I ask her in my nervousness.

"I've been assigned to watch you, remember?" She tells me with a spiteful tone. Something tells me there's an underlying reason as well...

"Good morning, students~!" A chirpy familiar voice greets us at the school gates. Both of our eyes widen as we witness Nishikujou in a schoolteacher's garb, giggling and smiling.

"What are you doing, Nishikujou?" I ask her, perplexed at her appearance.

"Where are your manners, Tanuma-kun? Call me Nishikujou-sensei here," she responds with a pitiful look, before smiling again. "I teach here. Makes it more convenient to contact my subordinates here."

"What subordinates?" I ask, confused.

"Morning, Nishikujou-sensei," a short, blonde-haired girl with an eyepatch over her right eye greets Nishikujou. The woman squeals in delight in seeing the girl, and rushes to hug her. The girl gasps and runs away frightened into the school, with Nishikujou following.

The two of us are left speechless at the scene. "Let's...go," I break the ice. Shinsaibashi-san seems to agree with me. As we walk inside, some of the students are already looking at us and whispering, although I'm not quite sure what. I hope we haven't become an item that fast...

* * *

As I walk into my first period class, many people are looking at me with surprise and curiosity. It's as if they've been wondering where I've been since I left school for a whole day.

"Ah, Tanuma-san," one of the boys greets me. "We didn't expect to see you here after what happened earlier." I just stand there in solemn silence, coming up with something to say. But nothing comes out. What do I say to a room of people whose lives I've endangered?

"Tanuma-san? Are you okay?" Another boy addresses me. I clench my fist in frustration and sorrow. I'm so pained right now, I can't bother to answer them. I can manage a whisper beneath my tears, but only that.

"I'm sorry..." With that, I walk to my desk, and say nothing afterwards. I just need to be alone right now.

As the teacher calls roll, the back door opens wide. "Pardon the intrusion, Sensei! I need to borrow Tanuma-san for a short while!" Shinsaibashi-san storms in and grabs my arm, fleeing the scene afterwards. She pulls me downstairs towards the first-year hallway, and sets me down underneath the stairs.

"For the holy woman's sake, what's going on here?" I gasp at her as I catch my breath.

"I forgot to inject you with this," she tells me as she pulls out a needle syringe full of a strange blue liquid. Without warning, she grabs my arm and injects it.

I soon walk back inside the classroom, my left arm limp like a dead animal. My classmates ask me if I'm okay, because they heard screaming from downstairs. I tell them I'm fine, and just return to my seat.

* * *

Lunch break arrives, and no sooner does the bell ring that Shinsaibashi-san slams back in and drags me out into the hallway. Everyone watches me leave in a helpless state, and they start whispering again.

By the time we get to the stairs, I'm already standing up and walking alongside her. We don't talk as we walk down the halls, although I do make some observations as we pass by certain locations. With the first floor completely trashed, sections of it have been sealed off for repair, so we are only allowed down a certain route. As we exit the school building, the damage becomes more obvious. Windows are shattered, metal beams torn asunder, and parts of the second floor leaning against the crushed sections of the school. It looks like a terrorist attack, but who am I to describe it as such? I'm no arsonist, and yet I tore this building apart. The thought makes me die a little inside.

"We go this way," Shinsaibashi-san points towards the park. I am in desperate need of fresh air anyways, so I nod in agreement. When we arrive, I watch her sit down first and open her cupra in a militaristic, silent fashion. She does not look up at me as I sit down beside her and open up my own lunch of water and sugar-filled bites. She slurps her noodles in a set rhythm, as if she practiced this pattern of eating millions of times before. I guess women are creatures of habit after all.

"So, what's with you today?" I ask her in a soft, low voice. "You've dragged me around like a doll, you inject me with a weird medicine, and now you're avoiding talking to me. What gives?" I don't recall raising my voice or being angry at her, but she mumbles something inaudible to herself between clenched teeth. "Did you say something?" I ask her.

She looks up from her cupra in frustration and gives me a mean look. "Did you not hear me this morning?" She answers me in a bitter tone of voice. "I have one job at this insufferable school, and it's to watch you 24/7. I can't balance classes, reconaissance and babysitting a moron like you at the same time, but I'm doing it anyway because destroying the Key is vital to my entire existence!"

Geez, if the whole town didn't hear that, I'd be surprised. I have no idea why Shinsaibashi-san is so frustrated at me right now, but I can't even stand up straight after her threatening confession. I back away from her, so I can get back on my own two feet. She's a lot stronger than me, that's for sure. I can't best her in combat. So, the only thing I can do is reach her with my words.

"Are you okay, Shinsaibashi-san? You're scaring me," I mutter in my fright. It only serves to make her angrier.

"Don't call me that! I'm not your girlfriend! Since when did I like you?!" Now she's making no sense. I think Chizu-san called this PMS or something like that, but it was always hard to tell when she was under the influence of that. I take back what I said about women being creatures of habit earlier.

I heard that when they are under that influence, you need to leave them alone to chill for a bit. Time to make my escape. "I-I'm sorry," I reply as soft as I can. "I guess I wasn't considerate of you. If you don't want to see me, I can leave. I'll just see you at the hotel."

She stands up and reaches toward me. Through her body language, she tries to stop me from leaving. "N-no!" She squeaks. "You can't...you can't leave. We have to stick together..."

"No, we don't," I tell her in a calm manner. "Nishikujou-sensei told me you're always replaceable, so I can get another partner who's a little more agreeable. Sorry to bother you."

I think my wording hit the right target, as she just looks at me with stunned, surprised eyes. As I turn to leave, I check out of the corner of my eye to see if she's following me. I see a shadow fall across her face as I make my exit. Did I hurt her a bit too much? I was just trying to escape the situation, but maybe I tripped something I shouldn't have. Oh, well. If things go according to plan, she'll forget about it soon.

I spend the rest of lunch at my fifth period classroom, eating some stale bread I picked up from the cafeteria. For a while, I think about Shinsaibashi-san. I hope she had the courage to leave the park after I left. She's not the kind of girl to act outside of her usual comfort zone.

Come to think of it, why did she inject me with that blue stuff? Is that the whole reason I haven't been feeling woozy today? That's an interesting way of curing anemia. If only that kind of medicine was more available...

* * *

I didn't see Shinsaibashi-san at all after lunch break. When the last bell rang, I expected to see her outside, but I can't find her. I even check the park, but it seems she already left. Where could she be? I must have done something terrible if she's nowhere to be found. I conclude that the only way to find out where she's at is to ask Nishikujou-sensei. She should be at the teacher's lounge.

I catch her by the front gate, where she's wishing students well as they head on home. It makes me think about how much she likes being a teacher, but Shinsaibashi-san comes first.

"Nishikujou-sensei!" I call out to her. She turns toward me at the sound of my voice, and I can see her smile disappear for a brief second before coming back up.

"Ah, Tanuma-kun," she addresses me with a less-than-convincing smile. "I suppose you're looking for Hitomi-chan?"

"That's exactly i-" I stop in my tracks after thinking about how embarrassing this might sound. I choose my words carefully. "Well, I mean...it's rather surprising I haven't seen her since lunch break. I was just wondering what happened to her." I break eye contact and feel my face grow hot. There's a bad itch on my back that I want to scratch, but I have to bear through it to be convincing. Nishikujou-sensei sees right through it, as do the other students watching us. I hear giggling and whispering, and I want to tell them to shut up.

"Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Hitomi-chan left school early," Nishikujou-sensei tells me, hiding her sadistic laughter. "She told me to tell you, 'it definitely is your fault'. I wonder, Tanuma-kun...did you do something to her?"

Instead of giving her an answer, I run. Run away from the school, away from the people who hate me, away from the world. I can't be bothered with it anymore. I have to know where Shinsaibashi-san is, or I will curse myself forever. I have to go back to the hotel room.

When I return to the hotel room, I find it devoid of her. I do find, however, a sticky note pasted to the bathroom door. Without hesitation, I read it.

 _You were right. I'm just not cut out for this job, so I've requested a reassigning to the Roswell branch. I wish you the best of luck with your new partner._

I was right. I took it too far. I thought going away would help her calm down, but I didn't think she would be THAT sensitive to my words. What she really needed, I realize, was a boost of confidence. But how can I fix that?

I grab my key, shut the door and jump down the elevator. At the bottom, I make a mad dash for Nishikujou's office, bumping into a few agents during my furious sprint down the dark hallway. I find her office without delay, and open it.

"Nishikujou!" I call out to her, panting under my breath. She looks up from her paperwork, and raises an eyebrow at my sudden appearance.

"Tanuma-kun, have you heard of a thing called knocking? It would help if you did that first," she points out with a scary face.

"I don't have time! Shinsaibashi-san's leaving!" I scream out to her.

"Calm down, Tanuma-kun. Come inside first. I'll explain everything." With her word, I close the door behind me. She clears her throat before speaking. "I understand that you lied to Hitomi-chan today," she starts with a glum face.

"I know, and I'm stupid for even thinking it was a good idea," I confess to her. "I was hoping to leave her be so she would change her mind about the whole situation, but I didn't think her feelings were that unstable."

Nishikujou sighs, and then gives me a stern look. "I suppose I should tell you why that is," she responds. "Hitomi-chan's parents died when she was a small child. One of our agents found her and reluctantly took her in, but she was mostly neglected by him and her peers because of her Gaian roots."

"Her parents were members of Gaia?" I ask, curious.

"Yes," she responds with a grim tone. "She was stuck in very troublesome circumstances for a long while, and fought for acceptance in Guardian's ranks. She would take on missions too great for her own good, and end up in the hospital the next day. She pushes herself physically and mentally to the breaking point, giving no regard to her own pain or other people's feelings. She denies her roots, forcing herself to change into something she isn't ready to become. Do you know why?"

"Please, tell me," I beg her.

"She has nothing left," she answers. "What would you do if everything precious to you disappeared one day?"

That's when it hits me. I felt the exact same way when I lost Chizu-san and my house. I was confused, without any direction. I had to preserve myself long enough to find the truth, no matter what it took to get there. I discovered my destiny and found an anchor in Shinsaibashi-san, but what she's going through...

"I don't understand her at all..." I croak as I cradle my head in my hands. "At least I had somewhere to go...she didn't have anything. I'm such an idiot...There's no way I can help her now..."

"Yes you can, Tanuma-kun," she closes. "The reason I put her and you in that school is because I want you both to live normal lives. She doesn't belong in Guardian the way she is now, and neither do you. We will still keep in contact with you, but we want to get you to the point where you no longer need us anymore."

"...I understand," I respond, rubbing my eyes and nodding my head in agreement. "Where can I find her?"

"At the hotel room," she responds. "I've already sent her word that her transfer request has been rejected, so you should go cheer her up."

* * *

Before I know it, my hand reaches for the doorknob of the door of my hotel room. I can't hear Shinsaibashi-san inside there, but I know she's there. I wonder how I can go through this without hurting her feelings again. Maybe I should do it in a subtle fashion, like with a casual greeting. Or maybe I should just act happy, although that might be too intrusive. Darn it, I need to think of something...

The door opens, and Shinsaibashi-san sends her cold gaze to me with eyes redder than they already are. I almost tear up at the sight, and I look away for a bit. I have to answer her with something. Come on, Imako! You can do this!

"I'm...sorry," I tell her. "I lied to you. I...didn't think you would do this...all of a sudden, but...can you forgive me?"

I shake in my shoes, for fear I may have said something wrong. I'm glad I even had the courage to apologize to her, but what's effort if the payoff isn't what I need? I look to her for her answer.

"That's...okay," she responds in her usual low voice. She turns her head toward the wall in shame. "I think it was my own fault, too. I just want to prove I can be useful, even if it means taking on stuff I do not like doing. If I hadn't bothered to save that boy two years ago from a collapsed schoolyard, I would have not been mixed up in all this..."

"That...was you?" I speak up, surprised. It couldn't be...The girl who carried me out of what should have been my final resting place...an angel from heaven sent by my mother...this was her?

"I'm afraid so," she says, not the least bit happy about it. "If I hadn't saved you there, I wouldn't have been assigned to help you, such a complete and utter moron..."

"Hey, now I take offense to that," I interrupt her, resting my hands on her shoulders. "You saved my life, twice even. I can't thank you enough for that. To say you regret it is like saying you wish I were dead." She gasps in surprise, both at my words and at my sudden touch. Nevertheless, I keep going. "Maybe you might never find worth in Guardian, but have you ever considered how much you mean to me now? I can't thank you enough for helping me. I want to help you do whatever it is you want to do, because I love you, Shinsaibashi-san."

I think I shouldn't have spouted out those last few words, but Shinsaibashi-san takes it like a knife to the heart. Her eyes widen, and then grow dim as she loses strength in everything. Like a ragdoll, she collapses forward onto my chest. I try to catch myself, but without warning I fall back onto the floor, her body pressed against my own. My head and back hurt from the impact, but my first thought is to scoot myself off so I can stand.

It takes a while, but I accomplish this. After brushing myself off, I think about how to pick her up. I don't want to get in trouble for violating her, even though there's...no one here...

The thought flashes into my mind for one second. No, no. I can't do that. I have to take an ethical approach to this. I need to get her on the bed and call Nishikujou. I decide on carrying her by the stomach, even though that might not do too well with her appetite. It's the only way I can approach this without looking like a molester. Then again, this is a love hotel...

I pick her up from the stomach and she lifts up like a stuffed doll. From this angle, it looks like she drank a little too much. But we're both underage, so such a situation isn't possible. I drag her down with me to the bed and scoot her on there as gently as possible. For good measure, I close the door soon after placing her there. I pull out my cell phone and call Nishikujou.

"Go ahead, we're listening," Nishikujou answers with a scary tone.

"Nishikujou, it's me," I tell her.

"Oh, Tanuma-kun! Hold on a second," she says in a surprised voice before putting down the phone for a small while. When she picks it up again, she puts a more relaxed tone. "Sorry about that, Tanuma-kun. We were interrogating a Gaian agent and thought you were a ransom call." Makes sense, although that doesn't make it any less scary. "What's the problem? Did you talk to Hitomi-chan?"

"Well...more like confessed to her," I stammer. Nishikujou gasps, then hums with great enthusiasm.

"Congratulations," she compliments me. "Invite me to the wedding when you guys plan it."

"Like heck I will!" I throw out to her. "But thank you for the help. I couldn't have calmed her down without you."

"Oh, don't mention it," she laughs. "Just don't do anything to hurt her feelings anymore, okay?"

"Mhm," I nod. "Good night, Nishikujou-sensei."

"Ah, to be so young," she breathes a happy sigh. "Take care, Tanuma-san."

I hang up, and turn back towards Shinsaibashi-san. We've been given our last mission, to begin anew and live without the responsibility of saving the world. We are human beings, only capable of doing so much before giving in to our weaknesses. So we must live in recognition of those weaknesses, and carve out a peaceful, harmonious existence with each other. Shinsaibashi-san is my only anchor to the past, and I want to stay with her forever. I just hope it's within my power to do so.

* * *

Hello again! EisenKoubu here. Feels more like an ending now, doesn't it? You could say this is the end of the first story arc between Imako and Hitomi, as I don't have a whole lot for the next part of the story at the moment. What's in store for the couple after this turn of events is a secret, but I thank you all for reading this far. I hope you are all looking forward to what's next when I'm finished with it! :)


	5. October 3rd

In case you didn't read the above date, a month has passed since the day I confessed to Shinsaiba...I mean, Hitomi-san. Calling her by her last name feels like a tongue twister at first, but it gets stuck in your head after a while. Nevertheless, I do admit that Hitomi-san is much easier to say.

First things first, I have an actual alarm clock now. I hit the snooze button and slump up, rubbing my eyes and looking at the pastel blue wall in front of me. The early morning greets me with warm sunlight emanating through the windows on my right. I look up at the picture hanging on the wall in front of me. It's a photo of Shinsa...I mean, Hitomi-san and her parents. She had it moved from her summer residence in a different corner of the world. It's a piece of her that makes this once-barren hotel room more like home.

Speaking of which, thanks to the funds we received from Guardian, the whole place looks more spruced up now. I have a new laptop, a new backup hard drive, and even a place where Reeves can smile down upon us. It's looking a lot more like a home now. It's strange how you can practically live in a single room without ever going outside for anything. Strange, but convenient.

"Tadaima," a familiar voice calls as the door opens. Speak of the devil, it's Hitomi-san. She comes in with two large brown paper bags filled with groceries. After setting them on the kitchen table, she turns to look at me.

"Welcome back," I sleepily smile. In response, her mouth curls up as best as it can into a smile. It's not very visible, but I can tell she's happy to see me. "Do you need help with those?"

"No, no, it's fine," she assures me as I struggle to get up out of bed. "You don't have to get up. I can get these put away fast." She opens the fridge and starts placing various items in there. Cheese, sour cream, grapes, orange juice...It looks like she knows what she's doing.

"Well, I'm going to change," I reply. "Don't want to be late for school again."

"Y-yeah..." Hitomi-san blushes upon remembering the incident.

"You're still not mad about it, are you?" I ask her. She looks at me like I'm not making any sense.

"Why would I be mad?" She returns the question with a confused face.

"You look very unpleasant," I point out. "I thought you were still mad at me."

"Nonono," she denies it. "It wasn't your fault. If anything, I was the one who mentioned it to Suzuki-kun before he started spreading it."

Everyone, or at least the first-years, know that we're a couple now. On top of that, top-secret information leaked out somehow that I was destined to be a messiah of sorts, but I don't know the exact details.

"Well, we need to hurry," I press her. "If we're going to avoid those freaks, we need to be on our toes." Shinsa...I mean, Hitomi-san nods with her usual serious stare. I can always count on her to be by my side when such things happen.

* * *

I wait up in front of the hotel for Shi...er, Hitomi-san to arrive. I feel ready to go back that endless flight of stairs to check up on her, but she arrives just as I consider it. She looks like she just ran a few laps.

"Where were you?" I ask her with impatience.

"I had to...take the stairs..." She pants. It makes me wonder how much body strength she let go in the span of a month. I've seen her exercise, but maybe it's not as vigorous as her Guardian training?

"Are you going to be okay? Should we skip school today?" I ask, concerned for her safety. She jumps at the idea.

"Nonono, I can make it," she insists. "I just feel a little tense...I'm afraid we might not make it on time..."

"Hey, don't worry," I tell her calmly. "As long as we work together, we can make it. We just need to find a good shortcut and avoid contact with people. You can do that, right?"

She nods with a surety, her face adorned with a firm smile. "I have done so for thirteen years," she responds.

And with that, we speedwalk off towards our destination.

* * *

The walk with Hitomi-san is a peaceful one. Just the two of us, walking side by side on a brisk autumn morning. The air smells fresh and crisp, a telltale sign of the approach of bitter cold winds and light snowfall. It doesn't snow that often in Kazamatsuri, but there's always hope in my heart that we can spend time together in the cold, white stuff.

"Tanuma-kun, it's them," she warns me. I look in the direction she's facing. Three guys dressed in obvious street thug garb stand a sizable distance away from us. It doesn't look like they've seen us yet, so we still have a chance to find a shortcut. I look around for a clear path.

"Over there," I whisper to her. I nudge her to the right. An empty back alley with clear paths in two directions sounds quite promising. Hitomi-san agrees with a nod. We trudge slowly into the dark alley, waiting until we are in the clear to start walking. The alleyway walls feel a little too close for my tastes, but I reckon we won't be here for long.

"Oh, I just realized," Hitomi-san starts whispering. "I forgot to give you the iron injection today. Hold on..." She pulls off her backpack and rummages through her stuff.

"Can't we wait until we make it to school before you start poking me with needles?" I beckon her quietly.

"This will only take a few seconds," she responds as she pulls out a tiny needle syringe. She grabs my arm and injects it quickly. I try to avoid screaming, but a fairly audible one escapes my mouth regardless.

"Keep quiet," she nags me as she pulls out the needle. She quickly bandages the wound, and slings her backpack back on.

"There they are!" It seems the thugs have found us. Great, now we have to run to school.

"Let's go!" Hitomi-san grabs my limp arm and pulls me forward. My legs can barely keep up with her breakneck speeds and high jumps, as we ascend to the rooftops like in some action movie. Surprisingly, the thugs are fast enough to catch up to us. "Hang on!" Hitomi jumps about ten feet across to the next rooftop, all the while holding me by the hand. It should be physically impossible, but we both manage to land on our feet safely on the next rooftop. We don't wait to see what the thugs will do, since school starts in less than ten minutes.

* * *

By the time we pass the school gates, the first bell rings. All the students who have any semblance of conscience make a run for their classes. Of course, we have no time to watch. All we can do is join them.

By the time we reach her class, she makes a dash for her seat without saying goodbye. It doesn't matter anyway. We don't have time. With my momentum, I leap up the first flight of stairs to the second floor, in the hopes I make it before the teacher does. I didn't take into account, however, of the positioning of my feet as they landed. I fall forward, injuring my right knee. I wince in pain, but I don't stop moving. I scramble back up the stairs as if nothing had happened.

With another mad sprint, I slide into my classroom a mere second before the teacher enters. I scramble to my seat, holding my heart with my left hand and my scraped knee with my right.

"Hey, Tanuma, you alright?" A fellow classmate expresses concern for me.

"Yuh," I wheeze in response. I try to nod in addition, but I'm too busy coughing to do anything else.

"Kiritsu!" The class rep, an average-looking but responsible fellow by the name of Suzuki, addresses the class as the teacher steps in. As I stand, I cough twice. Some eyes peer towards me, but the rest pay no mind.

"Rei!" The entire class bows.

"Good mo-kuhah!" As I try to greet the teacher, I cough twice more, noticeably convulsing with each one. Our sensei raises an eyebrow, but ultimately passes it off.

"Good morning," Sensei greets the class and bows. About mid-bow, he raises his left arm to clear his throat before rising. "Chakuseki."

Everyone sits down, and I continue to hack. Before long, everyone is looking at me, expecting me to cough up blood at any point. Well, something does come out, but...it isn't blood. For one thing, it's blue. The same kind of blue found in those injections Shinsa...Hitomi-san gives me every day. Liquid iron, was it?

Although it starts out as a single splat, I keep coughing. More comes out, and people start freaking out. People start screaming Bloody Mary, as if I'm coughing up alien blood. And you know what? They totally have the right to think that after all this supernatural stuff I've been through.

"Someone get Tanuma-san to the nurse NOW!" Sensei's scary when he yells, but I'm glad he's concerned for me...somewhat. Suzuki and another student drag me out with my body facing the floor, so that I wouldn't choke on the blue stuff. Oh, Hitomi-san's going to be so worried...

* * *

...Well, here I am again. It's funny how after a year, all the damage I caused is almost completely repaired. The school clinic is nearly the same as before, sterile while walls and all. The only thing that seems different is a shattered tile about three feet away from where I'm lying down. Despite the place being cleaned extensively, I can still faintly smell the scent of her blood...

I haven't wondered how that conversation would have gone if I hadn't fallen asleep until now. Thinking back to it, I assume she would have asked me some dumb, trivial questions just to keep her sane within this noiseless chamber. She was always quite shy, although she never really admitted to it. Oh, how things could have been if poor Chizu-san was still alive!

The wooden door opens up, releasing me from my train of thought. In the doorway stands Shinsa...ugh, _Hitomi_ -san, looking as fearsome as ever, although I could vaguely see worry in her eyes. I need to burn her first name in my mind somehow. Anyway, she runs up to me and inspects my person.

"Are you alright?" She definitely sounds concerned, although she's struggling to show it. If years of training under Guardian has desensitized her to emotion, perhaps it's a good thing we (kind of) left.

"Yeah, I'm..." I cough a couple more times before setting my head back down. "...I'm fine."

"I heard about the blue mucus from Suzuki-senpai. It seems as if your body is rejecting the iron injections..."

"Oh, you think?" Sarcasm aside, it's still quite shocking. I don't know why my body would be rejecting iron injections, but maybe it's because I have too much of them? She has consistently kept my iron levels high, but maybe that's not the problem.

"It sounds improbable, but perhaps I made your iron levels too high," she concludes to herself. "But that shouldn't be possible. Each shot should have enough iron to last you a whole day, so you shouldn't be reacting like this..."

"Is there any reason why I would be reacting like this?" I ask her.

"Hm..." As she thinks to herself, I notice that her left hand is on my solar plexus. It's almost as if she doesn't want me to get up. To test this theory, I sit myself up. In response, she slides her hand away, returning to her side. Perhaps it was just my imagination...

"Sorry, I don't know," Hitomi-san depressedly answers. "My medical knowledge only covers so much, and I haven't seen something like this happen before. If only we had contact with Guardian's medical research team..."

"How about we ask Nishikujou-sensei?" I suggest.

"Do you think she will listen? She might just ask us to continue the facade, or just ignore us completely."

"I think she'll listen," I respond. "If this is lethal, she won't hesitate to ask for help if we tell her."

Her mouth gapes open in understanding, and she nods. "Let's go for it. Wait here." She runs off to find Nishikujou-sensei, and I lay back in my bed before coughing out more blue mucus.

* * *

As I lay down, I struggle to stay awake. Hitomi-san is definitely taking her sweet time finding Nishikujou-sensei. My eyelids grow heavy the more I stare at the ceiling...no matter how I...try to...

The dream I haven't seen in weeks returns in full force. The Key approaches as I lie down helplessly in the middle of a dark forest. She reaches to touch me, and I try to scream to her not to touch me. She can't hear me, and still gets hurt regardless. As she extends her ribbons, I expect the ribbons to shatter against my skin...

Instead, the ribbons painlessly tear apart my flesh, revealing a horrifying sight even for the Key. What should be exposed bone on my right arm looks far more like a large tree branch. It stretches involuntarily towards the Key, impaling her almost instantly. I hear a loud sucking sound as my arm slowly withers the Key to a shriveled husk. What used to be my arm slowly consumes the rest of my body as it expands into a massive, misshapen tree...

Hitomi-san and Nishikujou-sensei burst into the room, forcing me awake. Nishikujou in particular doesn't look too neat. Her normally-combed-down purple hair is ragged, with some locks drooping over her face. Her eyes look scary. Was this a bad time?

"Thank heaven...I thought you would end up destroying half the school again..." Nishikujou-sensei breathes a sigh of relief as I look upon her with anxious curiosity.

"Nishikujou-sensei?" Following my remark, I hear one of my knuckles cracking, but not like they naturally do. It sounded more like the sound a tree branch makes when snapped in half. Both Hitomi-san and Nishikujou-sensei jump at the sound, and that's when I know it wasn't my imagination. "What's...happening to me?"

"Let's let Guardian's medical staff answer that question," Nishikujou-sensei answers. "Hitomi-chan, grab his left arm. I'll grab the right."

Before long, I'm dragged helplessly down the hall by a taller first-year and an electives teacher. Some of the first-year students look at us with suspicion, wondering exactly why a student and a teacher are walking in the opposite direction of the school clinic. To be honest, I don't blame them. They must have been pretty confused with all the weird stuff going on in the past month, and this is probably the least of it.

* * *

I didn't expect to return to Guardian HQ so quickly, but this was a major issue. They put me in a special chamber akin to a surgery room, where they tested me multiple times, using multiple methods. They took my x-rays, made blood tests, took samples of my skin, cheek, hair and urine...it seems like it will never end. All the while I could see Hitomi-san and Nishikujou looking at me from the window in front of me. I try to smile, but it comes off as weak and empty.

I could see the sorrow in Hitomi-san's eyes. Ever since I confessed to her, she grew more attached to me with each passing day. She could finally relax when I was around, never having to hide her feelings through intense training and difficult missions. If any of these tests came out positive, I fear she might have a heart attack.

I have to think of something positive before I go mad. Let's see...well, at least I don't have to run like mad through the streets of Kazamatsuri going home. Those thugs are so relentless chasing us for whatever reason, and they don't seem to be ordinary thugs. What are they after? Given that word has spread about Hitomi-san and I being an item, the only logical conclusion is that they want to break us up. Perhaps they have a vendetta against Guardian. I keep hearing about this 'Gaia' organization, but I've never seen any of their members up close. If they all dress like that, their higher-ups should probably rethink their fashion sense.

I wonder why they haven't put me to sleep for some of these procedures. The men in the room look as if they plan to tear apart my insides, but they don't plan on sedating me. Great anxiety settles in. I suck in my stomach in an attempt to crush the butterflies inside. Finally, one of the men leaves the room, and walks up to the audience holding a clipboard. He gives the clipboard and says something to Nishikujou, and I try to gauge what they're feeling based on their expressions alone. Nishikujou's face loosens as the man speaks to her, and the opposite seems to be happening to Hitomi-san. What is it they're talking about? What's happening to me? Will I die? Am I going to live? Someone please tell me...

* * *

Eventually they transfer me to a hospital bed, but they keep me in tight binds, perhaps in fear of destroying the place involuntarily. No one bothers to visit me as the sun sets. When are visiting hours for this place anyway?

All I can do is lie here and stare at the white ceiling, painted a deep shade of blue thanks to the illuminated night sky. I'm not tired, and there's too much on my mind for me to sleep. I keep coughing every once in a while, getting blue mucus on my hospital robe.

I hate being stuck here. I want to go to sleep and forget this ever happened, but I can't. I want to wake up from this nightmare and go to school with Hitomi-san, but I can't. I want to go on a date with her this weekend, walking peacefully around Kazamatsuri and eating out wherever, before stopping in front of the park at night, talking about all that's happened before asking her to marry me...Oh, how I wish things would _go my way_!

But I can't. I'm tied to a hospital bed. I'm suffering from a disease I have no clue about. I'm destined to do something beyond myself with all this 'messiah' crap. The worst thing that could happen right now is if someone tried to kidnap me, interrogate me, and then slit my throat for good measure.

CRASH! The window next to me shatters, and I flinch in fright. A strange bird the size of a vulture flies in and lands in front of my bed. I struggle to break free of my bonds as the bird stares at me with hollow eyes.

 _Stay calm, Imako Tanuma. We are here to release you._

A voice in my head warns me to stop moving. I stop, if only to find out where the voice is coming from. "Where are you? Who are you?"

 _I am an old friend of yours. I am speaking to you through the bird you see before you. I want you to listen very carefully, because unless we get out of here quickly, you don't have very long to live._

Well, that's a fine introduction. Coming up to me and telling me I will die if I don't leave? Tell me something I don't know, disembodied voice in my head.

"How am I supposed to leave? I can't break these bonds."

The bird reacts immediately, loosening my bands with its beak. As I sit up, I hear an alarm go off in the hallway. The bird snaps its head towards me in response.

 _Quickly, we must fly!_

Instinctively I grab onto the bird's thick talons and jump out the broken window. Just then, I could hear the sound of people breaking into the room I just left, but the sound quickly leaves me as I fall like a rock. The bird tries desperately to fly off while I am holding on, but all it's doing is slowing down our quick descent. I panic as I watch my feet get closer to the ground.

"Flap harder! Flap harder!"

 _I'm trying, you idiot! This is harder to control than it looks!_

As we reach terminal velocity, I shut my eyes and scream bloody murder. It does no good to freak out in a situation like this, but I've never fallen down a hospital building before. It didn't cross my mind that the weight difference between the bird and myself would be so huge. But now's not the time to think! I have to grab on to something other than this wimpy fowl! A pole, a ledge, a window, anything!

I reach out towards the building with one arm extended, eventually grabbing the ledge of an open window. My fingers are on the verge of snapping, and I scream in pain as my fall suddenly halts. The bird continues to flap, eventually gaining enough air to safely hover under my weight. I'm afraid to let go, though.

 _Let go of the ledge!_

"You must be crazy! What if we sink like a rock again?!" I scream at the bird.

 _We can float gently down now! You just have to trust me!_

"What reason do I have to trust you?! I don't even know who you are!"

 _If you would just listen to me, I would tell you why! But we need to escape! Or do you want me to leave you by this window, and go back to being unable to go anywhere?_

It is then that I realize that this bird must know something about me. It pointed out the logical mistakes in my distressed way of thinking, and turned it into a subtle threat. It sounds eerily familiar...

"Fine! Just get me down!"

 _Hang on~!_

I let go of the window sill and grab the bird's talon again. Instead of falling to our doom, we glide gently across the street, away from the hospital. A light, cool breeze blows against my face as we float through the air. The bright lights below us makes the whole place feel serene and calm. We pass by a few buildings of varying size, shape and color before landing down onto the dimly-lit roads leading to the central square. I release the talons and let the bird catch wind again, while I catch my breath. After wheezing a few times, I cough up more blue mucus.

 _By the moon, what have they done to you?_

"Iron injection," I choke. "I have anemia."

 _You'd better pray you can still run. Guardian's coming on us fast._

"You're not from Guardian?"

 _Of course not! I wouldn't have freed you from that hospital room if I was!_

"Geez, I was just asking..." This bird is kind of bossy, I think to myself. Nevertheless, it makes me curious as to just what this bird is, and why it came to free me. Before I can ask, I hear footsteps running towards us.

 _We have no time! Follow me!_

Heeding the bird's words, I escape the scene, following its trail.

* * *

Hello again! EisenKoubu here. I'm actually kind of glad I got to this point because beyond it, I feel, is where this story gets really interesting. This chapter may have taken me a bit of time to pick up due to all the other projects I've been working on, but I can assure you that the next chapter will definitely be worth the wait! Thank you for staying with me so far, and please look forward to the next day of shenanigans as Imako discovers who his rescuer is! :D


	6. October 4th

I feel exhausted after running so far from the Guardian base hospital. I'm not sure why, but we lost our Guardian pursuers deep in the forest. As soon as I see the coast is clear, I rest against a tree, wheezing heavily and coughing up more blue stuff. My heart is beating so hard, it hurts. I turn my head to the direction of the bird, wherever it is. "How much longer?"

 _Just a little farther in. There's an alcove in one of the forest's larger trees. That's where I live._

"Just who...are you?"

 _If you're patient enough to wait until we make it, you'll find out. Now come on._

I lift myself from off the tree, and tread steadily along the bird's trail. With every slow, agonizing footstep follows the crunch of leaves, sometimes branches. The forest is almost completely dark, and I have no flashlight. I only have the sound of flapping wings to guide me as I trudge through the unknown.

People always talk of Hell as a fiery prison where men who have done irredeemable crimes suffer eternal punishment. But I think there's nothing more uncomfortable and hopeless than being forever lost in a endless pit of darkness. There's no direction, no joy, and a constant loss of motivation and sanity. Every noise spooks me, and anything that touches me makes me jump. Using aural cues alone is no less difficult. I can't see anything in front of me. I'm tired and hungry, and my throat is scratchy from coughing every ten seconds. A little further walking in, and I'm starting to question why I'm following this sound in the first place.

And then the flapping stops. I'm alone. I know the bird must be nearby, but where? I see no light. I feel no warmth. There's no sound except the crushing of leaves with every footstep I make. I'm lost.

"Hello...? Anyone? Where are you, bird?"

"On your right," a human voice addresses me. I turn to that side obediently, and I see the dark outline of a figure about my height, standing behind what looks like a cave with a light inside. I breathe a sigh of relief before coughing again. The figure grabs me, and helps me inside. The crushing of leaves eventually gives in to a hollow echoing, but it doesn't sound like a cave normally would. It sounds more like walking on a wooden floor.

I'm brought into a small room with a tiny fire directly in the middle of the room. A few small wooden stools form an uneven circle around the fire. I am placed on one of these seats gently, and the arms that carry me leave me to attend to some other business. My gaze never leaves the fire to look at my host.

"Rest all you like," the person, most likely a woman from the sound of it, invites me. "I'll have dinner fixed up soon. I hope you like onigiri, because that's all I have at the moment."

I grunt fairly audibly, my focus on the dancing fire. It's such a hypnotizing spectacle, one that eases all my fears and slows my heartbeat and breathing to a normal level. But it doesn't make me less tired. Taking the woman's advice, I get off the stool, shove it aside and lie down on the flat wooden floor. Then I realize something: if I fall asleep here, I may just destroy this entire wooden cavern. I rise up to leave, before the woman catches me.

"Just where are you going?" She stops me in my tracks. "I didn't go through all the trouble to bring you here just so you could leave."

"If I sleep here...I might just kill us both," I respond.

"I know that. I've seen your power before," she tells me. "If you're so scared of killing people accidentally, perhaps you should think about why you keep doing so."

"How can I? I don't know the cause."

"Do you want to know?" She dangles a tempting lead before me. I turn to face her, interested in the offer. As I do so, my tired eyes catch a glimpse of her illuminated face. Light blue eyes stare back at me with a sharp intent, coupled with a sly smile. I can't be absolutely sure...but it can't be any sort of coincidence who the woman standing in front of me is.

"You...but how?"

"If you're willing to listen, I'll tell you everything."

* * *

Perhaps I haven't mentioned this before, but Chizu-san is a mean cook. After three onigiri I still crave more. She's not entirely happy with my intense appetite, but considering how she doesn't even eat any herself, I guess she doesn't care. While I eat, she starts telling me what's happened to her since the school accident.

"I suppose I should start with why you were brought to Kazamatsuri," she begins. "My parents are researchers belonging to an organization called Gaia. I'm sure the people in Guardian told you about who they are."

"Basically," I answer. "They intend to destroy all of humanity in order to return the Earth to its former glory."

"That's...actually not too bad of a summation," she discovers. "However, Gaia does more than just worship the Earth. They actively try to accelerate the process. My parents were part of a project that attempted to create what the holy woman calls 'artificial salvation'."

"Holy woman? You mean like Sakura Kashima?" I knew such a person from TV and whatever newspaper my father read every morning. She and her followers have an especially large presence in Kazamatsuri, and it divided the city politically on several occasions. Some were humble, unquestioning followers who listened to every word she had to say. Others despised her views, thinking them to be inhumane and nonsensical. I don't remember what my father's position was on the matter, but I couldn't have cared less.

"The same," she confirms. "She commissioned the project, and the people assigned to it began to research the Key. Many of them tried to hunt it down to collect data, but only a few returned alive. Those few managed to gather enough to turn an organic lifeform into an artificial Key, one that could be raised to bring Salvation upon command."

"You must be joking," I respond. "An artificial Key? How is that even possible? I don't think the Key is even human. How would someone go about making something like that?"

"Well, one of the project leaders decided to select a test subject from among Gaia's followers. Among the millions of Gaians around the world, they approached your father."

"Which explains why he had to move to Kazamatsuri," I piece together. "So are you saying the artificial Key is my father?"

"I'm afraid not," Chizu-san denies. "Your father refused the idea for his family's sake, but as a compromise, he pointed them to a different, more acceptable test subject: his wife's unborn child."

My jaw drops, and with it my ninth onigiri. "You can't be serious...I'm the artificial Key?!" Logically, it makes so much sense, but at the same time, it confuses me to no end. It partially explains why I'm seeing the Key in my dreams, and why it reacted to me the way it did in the forest, but some pieces still seem to be missing. "It doesn't make any sense...How am I the artificial Key? From how I see it, it's more like I'm the anti-Key!"

"We're getting a bit off-track here," Chizu-san silences me. "I'll explain everything in due time, but right now I can only finish explaining why I'm here before Guardian draws close."

"They're still tracking us?!" I exclaim.

"Shh! The more you talk, the less time we have!" After shutting me up, she sits back on her stool and finishes her explanation. "My family was assigned to collect data from your father and report back to Gaia. At first it seemed as if things were normal, but we hit a small snag when the Key wandered into your hometown. We expected the Key to just pass by you, but it seemed as if it was deliberately tracking you down. It attacked you..." She lowered her head to pause for a bit, then started to speak again. "...but I don't know all the details of what happened. For whatever reason, you returned home unharmed. You say you have anemia? I don't think it's a coincidence that the Key is the cause of your sleeping fits."

"What's your point?"

"I'm saying the Key wants you for...something. I don't know what. But sometime after that incident, the Key returned, and a schoolhouse was destroyed that same day."

"You don't mean..."

Chizu-san nods. "It was an interesting observation, although it was unfortunate that Guardian had to step in to save civilian lives. Luckily, they unknowingly preserved you, and your father agreed with us that it was time to lock down and center our observations in a controlled environment. At that same moment, they brought me into the experiment as well."

"So you knew what I was?"

"I'm afraid so," she confirms. "I'm a member of Gaia, and I'm not ashamed of it. I'm not asking you to believe in what we teach, only to hear me out. I thought the project was cruel and inhumane, especially to a boy like you. You looked so pathetic and weak when I first saw you, and..." She examines me briefly. "You still look pathetic and weak."

"What can I say? I'm not a terribly active person," I run with sarcasm. "But is that really why you don't like me?"

"I never said I..." She stops for a minute, as if stopping herself from saying something embarrassing. Her eyes grow scarier, and I can see beads of sweat streaming down her forehead. "W-well, my impression of you grew more positive over time. You're not a bad person, Tanuma-kun. You're just very unfortunate."

"Tell me about it." I roll my eyes.

"Anyway," Chizu-san continues. "You remember that day when you destroyed the school? I didn't expect the Key to be nearby when it happened. My parents never told me about what happened at your old school, so I was unprepared. But I was still alive."

"You never died?" I ask her.

"I would have, if my parents didn't try to preserve me," she answers. "They used the data they acquired by watching you, and infused me with a refined version of the formula they used to make you what you are. Essentially, I became a part of the Key, just like you."

"And how does that equate into you living? Wouldn't your back still be broken or something?"

"The Key has much of the same properties familiars have when it comes to aurora," She starts spouting terms I don't understand. "You do know what those are, right?"

"Not at all," I respond, shaking my head.

"Well, there's really no time to explain it, but that's how it is," she concludes. "As for why I'm here in this tree...Guardian found out about the experiment shortly after the explosion. They put two and two together, and started pursuing us. I'm here because my father told me to stay here until he comes back for me. So I'm posing as a druid until then."

"Druid?"

"A summoner who doesn't belong to Gaia, which, in my opinion, is both contradictory and heresy," she complains. "But that's the end of my explanation. Any questions?"

"Uh-"

"No time," she cuts me off. "I have to strengthen the barrier around this tree. Ask me again in two hours, if you can stay up that long."

"Oh, come on!" I shout.

* * *

Man, I feel so tired. I don't remember a third of what Chizu-san just explained to me. What I do know is that I'm some sort of weapon created by Gaian researchers, as a backup in case the Key dies. That's all I really needed to know, and that's all I'm concerned about. What am I supposed to do, now that I hold within myself the same, or at least, similar level power as the Key? Was this what the Key meant when it said I would be the Messiah? I would be the Messiah of the Earth? That doesn't make any sense.

"Tanuma-kun! I need you out here, stat!" Chizu-san calls from outside. Without hesitation, I jump out of my chair and limp outside to see what's going on. Then I stop as soon as I see the Guardian forces lined up around the trees. In the middle of the crowd is Nishikujou, who doesn't look too pleased about the force field that's keeping her away. I immediately turn to Chizu-san, who looks like she's struggling to keep the barrier up.

"Darn it!" She spits out. "What do you want?!"

"We only want Tanuma-kun, so please hand him over or we will destroy you," Nishikujou responds with those scary eyes. Dear Lord, I can never get over those.

"What's going on here?" As soon as I speak up, both heads turn to me. Nishikujou reverts to her more pleasant-looking self, while Chizu-san looks even more stressed.

"Oh, Tanuma-kun," Nishikujou greets me. "We were just talking about you. You see, this Gaia girl wants to take you away from us. She knows how valuable you are to Guardian, so she wanted to break us a bit. Could you please come back with us? Hitomi-chan's waiting for you~"

"Don't listen to her, Tanuma-kun!" Chizu-san steps in. "Remember why I brought you here! I broke you free from the bondage Guardian placed you in so I could tell you the truth! I still have more to say! Please...AAAAUUUGH!"

The barrier shatters at that exact moment, and Nishikujou's scary eyes emerge once again. "Secure Tanuma-kun, and destroy everything else!"

As they approach us, Chizu-san falls unconscious. The highly-trained soldiers approach us quickly. I...

Surrender.

Fight back.

I put up my hand to stop them, with a powerful intent to destroy. A brief ripple emanates from my hands, almost inaudible to the ears but as irritating to them as a noisy jet engine. It blows away the Guardian soldiers, and makes the trees shake and falter. The ones closest to me creak loudly, toppling over on some of the surprised Guardian soldiers.

But my indignation doesn't stop there. I unconsciously command the stumps of the trees I just toppled to take root, and imprison my former allies, just as they did to me back in the hospital. As the fallen soldiers struggle to break free, some spend their time just trying to get their comrades out for the sake of misplaced heroism. Most eventually fall to the roots, but some are persistent, like Nishikujou. She pulls out throwing daggers, and I see sparks envelope them. I can see the stress on her face, but I also see a tinge of hope in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Tanuma-kun..." She tosses the daggers at me with literal lightning speeds. They just barely graze my arm, making me lose my concentration. The roots stop growing, but I put my focus on Nishikujou, wrapping her in cascades of roots to the point of suffocation. Then I blow away the roots with another massive shockwave. Nishikujou, exhausted from the fight, turns to me with pure fear in her eyes. I step towards her, and give her a fierce glare as a nonverbal warning.

"Leave us alone," I tell her. "I need to know the truth, and I won't find it in Guardian. Please tell Hitomi-san I'll be late...very late...coming home."

She scrambles to her feet, and nervously orders her soldiers to fall back. At least they know when they're clearly outmatched in a fight. As soon as they finish scattering away like mice into a hole, I walk back to Chizu-san to see if she's okay.

"Are you okay, Chizu-san?" I ask.

"Mm..." She's fast asleep. Given how difficult that barrier looked to hold up, she probably deserves it.

Actually, no. She's the guardian of this area, so she has as much right to sleep as I do. I shake her a bit to wake her up, but she moans and puts her thumb in her mouth instead. I feel tempted to stick something up her rear end so she'll stay up with me, but I suppose she's a heavy sleeper. I can't fall asleep anyway, so I sit next to her and keep watch as the moonlight shines down from above. I don't recall when I left the hospital, but it's surely past midnight here. Maybe tomorrow I can be rid of this so I can get some actual sleep...

* * *

The following morning, after Chizu-san woke up, it is her decision to ignore the wishes of her father and travel by foot to Gaia's headquarters. She deems it too dangerous to stay in the forest now that Guardian knows where they are. Of course, that didn't mean she wasn't the least bit upset at the fact that I stayed up all night for her. She also kept wondering what happened while she was unconscious, but I thought it best not to tell her anything.

"Hey, if I'm going to start telling you stuff, you need to speak up," she demands. "First of all, what happened to the Guardian forces? I'm pretty sure they didn't just get up and walk away."

"No," I respond. "I threatened them to get up and walk away."

"But how? Unless..." Her eyes widened at the sudden realization. "No...They've seen what you can do! Do you know what that means?"

"I've just made enemies of my friends?"

"Worse," she answers, shocked. "They know what you are. You may look just like any other human, but part of your biology is very similar to that of the Key. Guardian has perfected the art of killing the Key over centuries of attempts. You should be able to figure out the rest."

"...I can. Crap!" I punch a tree and it visibly wobbles back and forth like rubber. Upon seeing this feat, Chizu-san looks at me with fear, and steps back a bit. I look to her and loosen my grip on my fist. I hear something light hit the ground, and Chizu-san gasps in shock. I look to where she's looking, and I see a chunk of skin and muscle tissue. I look at my hand, and immediately notice that part of the skin is missing, completely replaced by some sort of organic, flexible wood. Who wouldn't be frightened from something like this?

"What am I becoming?" I mutter, trying to hold back my tears. "I'm a monster. I kill people without thought, destroy things without effort. Why did this have to happen to me, of all people? What makes me so special?!"

My scream echoes throughout the forest. Even Chizu-san is surprised at this act of remorse, stemming from a truly broken spirit. I can't go back to Guardian now. Even Hitomi-san would never let me return. I'm an exile, banished of my own free will. All this to learn about my curse, the life of loneliness and the eventual sacrifice I am destined to accomplish in the end. The tears don't stop coming out.

"I just wanted...to have a normal, happy life," I blubber. "If my mother hadn't left...If I hadn't gone to sleep...If I had encouraged Hitomi-san to stay in Guardian...none of this would have happened..." Amidst all of these hopeless mumblings, one of them stuck out in Chizu-san's ears: "...I wish I could just die..."

"Okay, stop right there," she interrupts me angrily. "Yes, your life is hell, and I certainly wouldn't want any part of it. But can you start thinking for once what good came out of this? How much people have sacrificed to get you this far? You're still alive. You still have a chance to experience happiness again. Don't you dare think for one second of giving up, because I've worked long and hard enough to make sure you stay alive!"

"Chizu-san..."

"Your life still has meaning to me. I want to see you succeed. But staying here and moping about it isn't going to get us anywhere! Stand up, and keep walking! We should be there before nightfall." She picks me up and leads me by the hand, never once looking back at me. With my other hand, I wipe my eyes to look at Chizu-san. Beneath her robed figure, I can see a brightness enveloping her, as if an angel has embraced her. I could feel my chest pulling in her general direction.

Have I...grown to like Chizu-san?

* * *

Our path takes us to the outskirts of Kazamatsuri, close to the love hotel (and Guardian base of operations by extension). I remember that I left all my stuff in my room, but now it's too late. I have to stay close to Chizu-san until I figure out the truth. Even then, I may never set foot there again.

"This is Guardian territory," Chizu-san notes to herself. "We'd best slip about the alleyways if we want to avoid detection."

"I don't think that's such a good idea," I try to stop her.

"Nonsense," she dismisses my comment. "They can't find us in alleyways. That's one of the advantages of being part of Gaia." I attempt to ask how that is even possible, but Chizu-san moves forward, taking me by the hand. She's been pulling so hard on it, I feel like it's going to come off.

As we slither down the streets and towards the alleyways, we both check around for suspicious people. The sunset reminds me of the last time I roamed these streets, although it was a bit darker at the time. I wonder what happened to that lady who gave me the hotel ticket earlier?

We pass by the familiar hotel, and Chizu-san stops dead in her tracks. I ask her what the matter is. "I feel an odd presence...We should be careful heading into this alley." She then continues to pull me along for the ride, right into the alleyway. I look back to see if anybody is following us, but I see no one.

"So, where are we going, exactly?" I ask Chizu-san in a whisper.

"To closed space," she tells me.

"Excuse me," a voice behind us addresses us. Both of us jump upon seeing someone behind us. I could have sworn nobody was following us. Turns out it's the same lady I met before, hooded cloak and all.

"You again?" I exclaim.

"Wait, you know this woman?" Chizu-san asks me.

"Nice to see you again, Tanuma-san," she greets me. "What are you doing out here when you should be getting ready for bed?"

"Well..." I don't want to lie to this lady, but I can't trust anybody. She could very well be a Guardian spy, although if she did know I was with a Gaian agent, she would have attacked me or called for backup by now. Or is she really just a passing prostitute?

"We're taking a shortcut to the West district," Chizu-san says in my place. "We have some early shopping to do for the Harvest Festival, and you know how those stores get crowded around that time." She chuckles dryly. I never knew how good Chizu-san was at lying. It actually makes me think if any of the stuff she told me was all the truth.

"Ah, yes," the woman nods in relation to what Chizu-san said. "By the way, is this your date to the Harvest Festival, Tanuma-kun?"

"Uh...yes," I squeak. Chizu-san facepalms at my obviously poor attempt at lying. Somehow, though, the woman takes it.

"Ah, that's good, very good indeed," she remarks. "Is Hitomi not feeling up to it?"

Both of us clench our teeth, and Chizu-san moves her gaze towards me, as if to tell me this next one was mine. "Uh...She's having issues..." I mumble to the old lady, sweating hard while cracking a weak smile. Lying is far from my specialty, and it shows. But still, the old lady takes it.

"Ah, I see," she responds. "It's a good idea to distance yourself so she can breathe a bit. Those monthly hormones are fierce on a woman's body. Take it from me. You won't believe how nasty I get when it rolls along..."

"We'd best be going," Chizu-san nods, pulling me again further into the alley.

"Oh, I suppose I shouldn't keep you waiting," the woman respectfully lets us go. "Do drop by again any time, Tanuma-san."

"Uh...yeah, sure," I respond as best I can. I highly doubted ever seeing her again, but there was something about her that seems so trusting of me. I don't know if she knew I was wandering into an alley with a member of Gaia, but even if she did, was she approving of my actions?

Chizu-san turns a corner, and we walk down what looks like a very long pathway that feels rather claustrophobic. The brick-and-mortar corridor is making hanging on to her hand a little difficult.

"Hey, Chizu-san, can you let go of my hand? It's kind of tight in here..."

"No," she instantly refuses. And she says nothing beyond that. In the meantime it feels like I'm getting blisters on my hands from her pulling me around. I have a feeling she's going to crush my hand if she holds on any tighter.

* * *

As we continue walking, I start noticing parts of the alley looking very repetitive and familiar in design. The sun is still going down, but it feels we've been walking for hours. It's shortly after I notice this that Chizu-san stops me.

"I think we've walked far enough. Here, help me up." She lifts her foot, and lets go of my hand. I place my hands under her foot, and she puts her weight on it. For some reason, Chizu-san doesn't feel heavy. She uses her other foot and hands to scale the wall, eventually grabbing a ledge and releasing her weight on my hands. I push her up to the top and she crawls on.

"What's it like up there?" I ask.

"Looks like we're in," she responds. She crawls back to the edge and extends her hand towards me. "Grab on." I take her hand and scale the wall as best I can, but Chizu-san's pulling is about as helpful as climbing a piece of yarn. I can even hear her strain and groan as I flimsily try to scale this brick wall.

Eventually I get up to a point where I can climb on myself, and Chizu-san pants as I steady myself on the roof. "You're heavy...Just what exactly did you do while you were in Guardian?"

"Can that wait until we turn in for the night? It shouldn't be too far," I tell her as I observe the surrounding area. It looks very much like Kazamatsuri except...it doesn't look or sound very lively. In fact, I can't even hear any wind. A few of the buildings look dull and uninhabited. I'm afraid to find out if anyone's passing by below us.

"We might as well camp out here," she responds. "No one comes around here anyways."

"Why is that?" I ask.

"This is closed space," she explains. "Only summoners wander about here. They're the ones who build up this place and maintain it. It's also a good spot to create familiars."

"Can you explain to me what that means? I'm so lost on all this."

"You've been living all your life in a Gaian community and you don't know what a familiar is?" She looks at me with an unenthused look. "It's an object that uses a person's life force to move. It can range from a simple doll to a meticulously-constructed creature to even a human, in rare cases."

"A...doll?" I remember about Reeves. Using him tired me and I often used him at night to get to sleep faster, but was he a familiar? "I had a doll once...that I used to move around at night..."

"Your father is skilled in creating familiars out of virtually any material," she remarks. "It's a haphazard process to make one, but I wouldn't be surprised if he ever made one for you...or out of you."

"Is the Key a familiar?" I ask, changing the subject to something less creepy.

"Of course," she affirms. "The Key is a familiar born from the Earth. It does the Earth's bidding, and it is destined to bring about Salvation." If the Key is destined to save the Earth, what's the point of me being the 'Messiah' the Key spoke about? I would discuss that with Chizu-san, but she doesn't know about the prophecy. Guardian does, and that's part of what makes them potentially more dangerous than Gaia. Telling Chizu-san any more than what I've said already could compromise my position, so I continue to play dumb.

"So, my father worked with familiars, huh?" I think to myself for a bit. "Do you think I could use one?"

"The way you are right now? Heck no. Your powers consume a ton of life force already. Trying to power a familiar on top of that would kill you."

"So what am I supposed to do with my powers, then?" I ask her, trying to pry a bit of why she set me up on this massive journey in the first place.

"That's something I would like to answer for myself," she responds. "From what I can tell, this isn't something that can't be cured. Neither of us can become fully human again. So, I think it's best to figure out what that is for ourselves."

A heavy air surrounds her as the words leave her mouth. It's a difficult decision, learning what to do with oneself. I feel I've spent a long time learning how to find a place in the world. I thought I found it with Hitomi-san, but it wasn't fulfilling. My circumstances forced me to find out why I was given these abilities. I feel Chizu-san has been answering my questions honestly, but at the same time, it still leaves me with the biggest one of all. "Why did you ask me to leave Guardian?"

Chizu-san fell silent. After a long pause, she spoke something I could barely catch with my ears, something I was sure she was embarrassed to say.

"Because you're the only one who can help me."

* * *

Chizu-san knew her parents would not be coming back when we left. She was being hunted down by both Guardian and Gaia, with her father kidnapped and her mother kept confined for the sake of her own protection. Chizu-san alone was forced to hide in order to look for help. It was convenient she found me in an inconspicuous alley after hearing my scream. She knew I was in trouble, and tracked me down in a desperate attempt to get me away from Guardian custody.

"But now that Guardian considers you an enemy, I suppose it was all in vain," Chizu-san finishes explaining. A single tear drops from her eye onto the rooftop. She doesn't whimper or hide her face in her hands. The tears flow freely, and she makes no effort to hide it. But I know that the fault isn't hers at all. I was the one who turned against Guardian in the first place. It was my idea to walk a thin line between good and evil, truth and ideals, self-improvement and saving the world.

I did what I felt was right. I'm the only one who can fix this. And I have to let Chizu-san know this. "Chizu-san," I address her.

She sniffs a bit. "What...Ah!"

I scoop up Chizu-san in my arms, embracing her like a soft pillow. I've never felt this close to her before, as the only part I've touched of hers is her hand. Her warmth and mine gradually mix, and she does nothing to push me away. It's the least I could do to help her in her time of sorrow.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" She stammers, her face getting a little too warm.

"You said it yourself," I tell her. "Staying here and moping about it isn't going to get us anywhere. We need to stand up and move forward. So if you want to save your father, we need a plan." I release my embrace, and look her in the eyes. "Can you do that?"

Her face gradually loses its redness, but it doesn't get any less angry. "Th-that's not what I meant! I can certainly do that, but what was that hug for?!"

"Oh, that?" I respond nonchalantly. "It's because I like you. I want to see you succeed, Chizu-san. Don't let me down if you want another one."

"I DON'T!" She screams at me.

* * *

EisenKoubu here. This chapter took a little while to write, especially after reading parts of Rewrite again, but this was such a fun chapter to work on. I feel it's one of my greatest achievements as a fanfiction writer so far. Of course, there's always room to expand myself and my writing talents, and what better way right now than to finish this arc? The next chapter should arrive fairly soon, so keep on the lookout for the continuation of Imako and Chizuru's quest to rescue her father! :D


	7. October 5th

Neither of us get much sleep, as Chizu-san presses the importance of making it to Gaian Headquarters. Our trek is less eventful than yesterday's, if only because nobody seems to be here. The silence is deafening. I try to converse with Chizu-san in order to fill in the void of silence between us.

"Uh...so..."

"What?" Chizu-san looks at me with displeasure.

"...Is it fun in Gaia?" It feels like a stupid question in immediate retrospect, but Chizu-san always takes what I say seriously. She lowers her head in deep thought.

"I'm not sure organized religion is supposed to be fun," she responds. "Life isn't all fun and games, you know. There are times when we have to look at ourselves and think, 'What am I doing wrong with my life? Who is to blame for my problems? And how can I fix them?'"

"But life isn't all horrible either," I add. "If all religions are really fire-and-brimstone, it wouldn't make me feel good about myself. I think a real religion should emphasize as much good as it does bad."

"That's not the point of religion at all," she refutes. "People need religion because they make mistakes. There's no need to think about what's good because people inherently know what's good and evil."

"If everyone had a similar view of good and evil, Guardian wouldn't exist," I argue. "They believe what they're doing is just and righteous. And they're a lot more fun to boot. They know they're not perfect, but they persist and help each other regardless. If they make mistakes, they do their best to correct them. If there was ever a religion that acted like them, I would totally join."

"Not everyone's circumstances are the same either," Chizu-san rebuts. "Some people don't want help from others or don't find enjoyment in the same things other people like. There's always a need that must be filled. Gaia exists to fill the need of those that see the world as corrupt and unforgiving. Guardian can ignore fate all they want, but it doesn't mean they are invincible or infallible. The Earth will die from their actions, and it is our purpose to see that it doesn't happen."

"Is it a sin to be just a tad selfish? I don't want the Earth destroyed either, but it's just as important that I live a long, happy life. I want to be married and have kids, but I don't want to die before I even confess to the girl I like! Haven't you ever felt the same way?"

Chizu-san grits her teeth. "...Never. There's no one I like."

Silence falls upon us both like a curtain at the end of a play. The sad thing is that there is no applause at the end. There is only a large uneasiness between us now. Chizu-san's bitterness about the issue isn't unlike her, but it's still harsh.

I had hoped this would go a lot better than it ended up being, but I only served to make the situation worse. I'm not even sure if she trusts me, after all I've done...

* * *

We come across a long corridor, which Chizu-san tells me leads to the Japanese Martel Group's main headquarters. Considering how these dark, formless tunnels seem to seamlessly lead to different places, it makes me wonder if there's one connected to GuarGuar or even my old house. Perhaps I should look into that? Then again, Chizu-san said using any of this hocus-pocus would kill me faster, so I guess I'll stick with old-fashioned walking.

Eventually, we emerge in what looks like an underground parking garage. I can see a few people roaming about here, but they don't pay much attention to us. After climbing a couple flights of stairs, we emerge in a massive, dimly-lit hall with several pillars holding up the place like some sort of Greco-Roman government building. Neatly-trimmed brushes outline the wall, and people file back and forth in several directions. Maybe this really is a government building.

"Welcome to the Magna Martel Group's Japanese Branch Headquarters, otherwise known as the Japanese Martel Group's Japanese...You know what, screw it. Call it Gaia HQ for short." Chizu-san gives me an introduction of the place with her signature sarcasm, a trait only the world's worst tour guides could ever hope to have. "This is the center of the world's oldest living organized religion. As a warning, I strongly advise against mentioning your former allegiance with Guardian. Should you prefer death, it would be a crying shame you weren't inducted sooner." She makes a cunning smile. I try to keep cool, but I'm panicking inside. I'm in enemy territory, with someone who is either trustworthy or dangerous. I'm powerless here.

"One question," I speak up. "What are we doing here?"

"We have to meet up with Suzaki, my parents' boss," she answers. "We have to convince him to start a raid on Guardian HQ to free my father."

"What about your mother?" I ask. "Can we see her?"

"...No." She refuses my request after hesitating. "I said before that she went into hiding, remember? She won't want to see us." Somehow I feel she isn't being honest with her feelings. Perhaps she isn't the best person to ask.

We go through several rooms until we reach what looks like a reception room, much smaller and cozier-looking than the lobby at the love hotel. The receptionist is black-haired, with a mellow face and droopy gray eyes. Her gaze is fixed upon a teen romance novel with an emo-looking cover. At least she looks like the proper audience for it. As Chizu-san approaches the desk, her eyes wander away from the book to catch a glimpse of her. "Can I help you?"

"I have an appointment with Suzaki," Chizu-san tells her. "You'll find me under Hanaoka."

The receptionist puts away her book with a sigh and searches around the underside of her desk. I take the time to look around the room as my attention wanders away from the both of them. The walls are lined with armless leather chairs with stumps for legs. A small table full of dated magazines and newspapers stands a short distance from these chairs, some of them dating back to almost two months ago.

I pick one up that reads 'September 2nd.' The front headline, of course, summarizes the spontaneous partial destruction of Kazamatsuri Academy. A very clear picture displays the damage along with some of the injured students. Reading through the story, one paragraph catches my eye.

 _While the cause of the explosion is unknown, many students and teachers are able to recount where they were when the explosion happened...Hitomi Shinsaibashi, a first-year student who was vital to the survival of many of her peers, had this to say: 'Whoever caused this accident has a lot against him. He has hurt me personally, and it will be very hard to forgive him of such a large-scale crime. But in the end, if I ever face him, I will eventually do so, because it is the honorable thing to do.' Indeed, people like Shinsaibashi are devastated by the event, but slowly building themselves back up through sheer force of will. It will only be a matter of time before the government finds the perpetrator of this tragedy..._

The article reminds me of that one day, sometime after my confession to Hitomi-san, when she and I were on a shopping trip for new bedding and food. It was just like any other day, and would have been like every other day had I not asked her a pivotal question.

"You know, we've been together for a good while. Why don't we...well, get married and settle down?"

She jumped at the idea. "M-m-married?!"

"Um, yeah," I respond, fully aware of how embarrassing the question was. "If Nishikujou's encouraging us to live together, it seems like the only option." I watched Hitomi-san breathe heavily at the prospect, sweating nervously. She did not look ready to answer that question at all. Something was holding her back.

"W-we can't..." She mumbles. "It's too early..."

"I suppose you're right," I quickly realized. "My eighteenth birthday isn't for a while, but we could still plan..."

"That's not..." She shakes her head. "I don't mean that..."

"Then what do you mean?" I ask her. She was being cryptic and unwilling to answer properly. In the end, we ended up arguing about something I can't remember about. It almost broke us as a couple, until she realized the gravity of what she had done to damage me. We forgave each other, but people still chased us for whatever reason, possibly because I was the 'Messiah'. Both Gaia and Guardian want me for their own purposes, and the Key wants me to follow a vague prophecy I don't want to fulfill. It's a little hard to decide who exactly is right, but I felt right with Hitomi-san for a while.

I do miss her, but as much as it pains me to say it, staying with her won't help me find the truth about who I am. I need to remove the one thing that's keeping me from living a normal life again, these 'powers' of mine. Like Hitomi-san, growing in power is only serving to keep me back from what I truly want. If Gaia can deliver that, I would gladly take it.

"Please have a seat," the receptionist tells Chizu-san. Just as Chizu-san starts walking over to where I'm sitting, I see another cloaked figure enter the room and approach the receptionist. Chizu-san sits right beside me, trying to get a look at the paper I'm reading.

"Is that today's paper?" She asks.

"No," I tell her. "It's dated September 2nd."

She loses interest immediately, filleting through the other newspapers to find something more current. I turn the pages of my current newspaper, but none of the other stories look as interesting. There isn't even a crossword puzzle or comic strip anywhere. What kind of newspaper is this?

"Please have a seat," the receptionist tells the cloaked figure before going back to her novel. I think about what to read or do while waiting, but I don't have any of my usual stuff with me. Thankfully it doesn't take long before a chime rings.

"Go in please," the receptionist drones without looking up from her book. Chizu-san and I wordlessly stand up, and for some reason, so does the other cloaked person. I wonder how many people this Suzaki guy sees every day.

We go inside a large conference room, built to tailor a large business company. Dozens of office chairs surround an oval-shaped table with a smaller oval-shaped gap in the middle. Like many of the other rooms in this building, the lighting is dim and florescent. Across where we are in the room, on the other side of the table, is a large, muscular man with really strange ears and a face so wrinkly it's frightening. He turns to face the both of us.

"Chizuru Hanaoka. It's been a while."

"My apologies for barging in at this time," she bows respectfully. "I hope it hasn't been too long, Suzaki-sama."

"Not at all," he responds. "In fact, I was just discussing with your mother about the progress we've made on the Artificial Salvation project." Chizu-san's eyes widen, and Suzaki turns his gaze to me. "I must say, I expected a little more than what I got."

Chizu-san nudges me to remember my manners. I make as deep a bow as possible, but I hear something creak, like a tree being bent too far to one side. I don't feel pain, but it's still embarrassing. "Uh...pleased to meet you..."

"So you are the subject," Suzaki addresses me. "I'll assume Hanaoka-san has filled you in on your situation. But why have you come to me?"

"My father is in enemy hands," Chizu-san explains. "I need a plan to break him out."

"Oh, yes, of course. Dr. Hanaoka was a vital member of our research team. It is a crying shame he fell into Guardian hands..."

"So you'll get him back?" Chizu-san asks. I haven't seen her look this hopeful before.

"No, my child," he answers. "The loss of one man cannot cripple our progress. We still have many other researchers, including your mother. Progress will still be made, and if Guardian kills their hostage, all the better."

As he smiles, Chizu-san's face burns red with anger. "You...he was your friend!"

"I am his employer," Suzaki responds. "Your parents are as replaceable as any other member of Gaia. Remember your teachings: the priority of human life is far lower than that of the Earth's. Salvation will occur regardless of whether or not Dr. Hanaoka lives to complete his work. If you plan on saving him, go right ahead. Just don't come crying to me like the children you are when Guardian agents pump you both with lead."

Chizu-san extends her right hand to her side, a glowing crimson glyph appearing on the floor underneath her palm. Almost instantly a bird similar to the bird that brought me to her appears. I don't remember the bird having a metallic sheen, though.

Suzaki laughs. "Oh, little Chizuru...always trying to act like one of the adults. Have you ever considered that your goals make you less of a Gaian than you think?"

Chizu-san falters for a moment, and in that moment, a gunshot can be heard in the room. Suzaki doubles over in pain, and the other two Gaians in the room summon their familiars in retaliation. My eyes widen as I witness the cloaked figure who followed us jump over my head, firing bullets in midair. Familiars blow apart with every cartwheel, and summoners topple over with every other gunshot. Not more than ten seconds after Suzaki is carried out of the room by his secretary, the only living people in the room are Chizu-san, myself, and the cloaked figure, now crouching after doing a triple flip bullet shower. The figure stands up, and points one of her twin automatic pistols at Chizu-san. I stand between them to intervene. "Stop! Don't shoot!"

The figure lowers her gun slowly, and takes off its hood. I instantly recognize Hitomi-san, that lengthy teal hair and piercing red eyes, in almost direct contrast to Chizu-san's appearance. She doesn't look the least bit happy that I left Guardian to seek the treatment I need.

"Hitomi-san?" I address her, surprised.

"Why are you protecting that Gaian girl?" She angrily asks me.

"I just so happen to be his friend, thank you very much," Chizu-san snaps back.

"So this is the girl you ran away with," Hitomi-san observes. "You'd better have a good reason for leaving us, because I've been worried sick."

"Is that why you followed us?" I ask.

"I figured you would show up in Gaia's headquarters sometime," she continues. "I managed to blend in quite well. I still remember the teachings of my parents, and a little loss of blood never hurt." She shows us her left wrist, which was partially slit and has since coagulated. Even Chizu-san is surprised.

"Now, if you don't cough up a good answer..." She raises her gun again, pointing directly to my heart. The both of us gulp, and it doesn't look as if there's a way out. I explain everything from the beginning.

"So you're helping her get her father back because he's possibly the only way to cure your anemia?" She repeats to clarify. "And what's this about an artificial Key?"

"Don't mind that part," I tell her, partially because I don't want her to shoot me. "All I want to know is if you know of any Gaian prisoners that might fit that description."

"Why should I care what Gaian filth comes in and out of Guardian HQ? I don't know anybody like that."

"You'd better think twice before calling us filth, you brat," Chizu-san threatens Hitomi-san. They glare at each other with intense hatred, but I break them up.

"Calm down, both of you," I plead to them. "I want to remove this ugly curse as much as anyone does, but I also want to see Chizu-san reunited with her parents. If you can't tolerate that, Hitomi-san, what makes you think I would want to come back?"

"Well-" Hitomi-san tries to make a comeback, but has a hard time finding the words. Her head droops with guilt, and after a while she turns back to me. "Very well. I will tolerate the Gaian girl. But after you get your anemia cured, she'd better go."

"I promise, lest I swallow a thousand needles." I reach out with my pinkie, and Hitomi-san grabs it with hers. Our eyes lock on to each other's, as if we hadn't seen them in a long time.

"Hey, lovebirds," Chizu-san interrupts us. "In case you haven't noticed, Suzaki's already sounded the alarm." Indeed, an echoing blare is coming from outside. We have to get out of here, and quick!

"Let's go!" We make for the reception room as fast as we can, hoping to catch that tunnel back to Guardian turf.

* * *

It was a struggle to get back to closed space, and even now, Gaian summoners are still following us at terrifying speeds. They've summoned ferocious hounds so fast I can barely outrun them. Poor Chizu-san is running out of breath, and she trips over midway through. As the wolves close in on her, I have no choice but to turn back and help her.

"Chizu-san!" I raise my hand to stay the hounds. As if propelled by a strong gust of wind, my massive burst of energy blows away several of them, but it's not enough to keep them away. I run up to Chizu-san's side, and pick her up. "Hitomi-san, can you hold off the hounds?"

"I'm out of bullets!" She screams.

"Can you at least keep them off our backs while I find a way out?" I ask her.

She nods, pulling out her knives. "I'm a cutter-type, you know." I wouldn't have asked if I did know. But at least that buys us enough time to find the alleyway where we emerged from. Chizu-san was smart enough to place a fairly obvious marker where we camped last night, so all I have to do is find that.

"Chizu-san, stay with me," I plead to her as I find a way up to the rooftops. There's one point that's incredibly hard to reach with Chizu-san strapped to my left arm, and I struggle to reach as hard as I can towards the top. "Urrrgh..."

Right when it seems I can't reach any higher, I feel the edge and grip it as hard as I can. Hoisting Chizu-san up to the top, I proceed to climb up myself. It's then when I notice that my left arm is considerably shorter than my right arm now. In fact, half my right arm doesn't even look like a human arm anymore. It looks more like a tree branch with a vaguely similar shape to one.

"What the heck...?" I'd like to question why I'm turning into a tree, but now's not the time. From the bright flashes across the street, I think Hitomi-san's reaching her limits soon. Chizu-san's waking up, too. "Mm...Ah! Where are we?"

"We're on the rooftops," I tell her. "We're not safe yet. We need to find that marker."

"It's over there," she points out, looking towards the south(?) road. Indeed, I see my school jacket attached to an air vent on one of the rooftops. It's a little clumsily put together, but it still works as a marker.

"Go on ahead to the marker," I tell Chizu-san. "I've got to get Hitomi-san."

"Why are you going back to get her now?" She asks me. "Wouldn't it be best to leave her so that the summoners don't pursue us?"

"She's my best friend," I respond. "I can't just leave her to die." With that I jump over the rooftops in search of Hitomi-san. I can still see bright flashes coming from down the street, so I guess she's still holding out.

My intuition is correct. Hitomi-san is still fending off hordes of wolves, but I can see her sweating with agony and fear. Her battle form is almost flawless, literally drilling past wolves with what seems to be a drill of light. It's as if she's pouring out her frustration over the past couple of days on an endless number of punching bags. I've heard that's the main appeal of hack-and-slash games, despite them all playing the same. But she's getting tired of fighting against her enemy. She can't do this alone; someone has to step in and help her conquer her fears. I breathe in, extend my abomination of an arm and let nature work its course.

The roots shoot forth almost immediately, taking out waves of wolves. Hitomi-san notices me instantly, and stares in awe at what my arm has become. I look to her in desperation. "Hitomi-san! Go on ahead to the south alleyway! I'll catch up!"

With great trust in me, she nods. As she makes for the alley, I shut away the pain in my heart for lying to her. As I jump off the roof to face the enemy, I whisper a silent prayer, asking for the safety of both Hitomi-san and Chizu-san from what I'm about to do. I breathe in deeply one last time. I've never focused as massive a microburst as the one that leveled the school over a month ago, but what better time than now to try?

"HrrrrraaAAAAGH!" The artificial earth rends apart quickly, and even the expendable wolves cower in fear as the ground trembles beneath them. My own frustration, a destructive power I never thought I had, emerges as a powerful shockwave capable of transforming a corner of the world. I understand now what this power is. This is 'Salvation'. I can't explain how I know this, but this is a power the Key and I share, one capable of restoring the Earth to its original state. It is a Salvation of the Earth, but a Destruction of its enemies. In turn, it is also a sacrifice of its wielder. The last of my humanity will die, and I will become the central tree of the Earth's resurrection.

Knowing this, do I want such a fate for myself?

I didn't choose this to fulfill the Key's prophecy. If I had the choice, I would have denied it altogether and lived a normal life. But some variables are beyond my control, and I can't pursue that lifestyle anymore. Chizu-san and Hitomi-san have goals that are far more reachable within their lifetimes. The best way I can further that goal is to ensure they make it out alive, even if it means sacrificing myself. The will of the Earth...my own desires...who gives a crap about that anymore?

The flesh in my arms tear apart, revealing the organic bark underneath. As my torso expands, I cough up the last of Hitomi-san's iron injection. It isn't long before I lose my sense of pain, followed soon by my vision, then my hearing. The last thing I remember thinking of is exactly the last thing I would think of, a missing face in the puzzle of my life.

* * *

Oh, my... :/

EisenKoubu here. What an ending. With Imako's sacrifice, his time in the limelight seems to be up. But is the story truly over? Hitomi and Chizuru are still alive. They still have a story to tell, and the Key's prophecy may not be as mistaken as you think...

But this marks the end of the second arc. Whew, what a ride. I'll be taking another break in between to work on other projects, but I will still commit myself to finishing this project, even if I have to bind it together with duct tape to make everything fit. Thank you all so much for reading this far! As of this chapter, this is officially the longest fanfiction I've written on this account! I appreciate everyone's commitment and I hope you look forward to the final arc of Messiah! :)


	8. December 5th

Things never were the same after we lost Imako.

Guardian took a hit emotionally, and from what I can tell, Gaia took a huge technical blow. With their closed space decimated by Salvation, their operations in Kazamatsuri slowed greatly. Sakura Kashima herself had to announce this in front of Gaia's faithful, and for a while, the city became quiet. Guardian also stopped operations to mourn the fallen, and some of us never fully recovered.

I know I didn't.

I wish I could have gone back to save him. I miss the days where we didn't have to worry about anything, where we could lead normal, happy lives. He would have wanted that for us, but he had to go and sacrifice himself so pointlessly...It makes me angry.

But I couldn't fault anyone, not even his friend. What did make me angry was her seeming apathy towards his death. I told her to get lost, and she took it to heart. I haven't seen her since, and I hope to never see her face again.

Looking back on these past couple months, I realize how little I've done since then. All I've been doing is constantly exercising, pushing myself past my limits once again. The pain is unbearable, but I justify it as my punishment for not being there to save him. He was the only person who understood me, it seems.

 _Knock knock._

"...Who is it?"

"Hitomi-chan, it's me," a familiar voice speaks from behind the door. "It's Nishikujou."

I hesitate to answer. Nishikujou is perhaps the only person who would stick up for me in a time like this, but perhaps not for the sake of my well-being. She wouldn't let me go after Imako, nor did she approve of my reinstating into Guardian. How do I know I can trust her?

"...If you won't let me in, can I ask you to listen?" She pauses a bit to breathe and gather her thoughts. "I'm sorry about what happened with Tanuma-kun. I figured he would have given you the life you deserved, away from the pressures of the world. But now...I guess we messed up. I don't want to point fingers at anyone, but the Gaian girl might have had too much influence on him."

'That Gaian girl.' She is the whole reason I'm in this emotional mess. I could have found a way to save him had she not freed him. We would have braved through this pain together if he had not eloped with her. I would have gone back to save him that fateful day had she not pulled me out of the way. She is the bane of my existence, and if I ever see her again, she would pay dearly for her actions.

"I wish it were in my power to make you feel better," Nishikujou continues. "Both Tanuma-kun and I thought it was best if you strayed away from Guardian. I still believe you should stay safe for all our sakes, but our situation is getting worse by the day. Which is why..."

She pauses to make sure I am paying attention. My head turns slightly to the door in anticipation of her next few words. "...I want you to go find the Key by yourself."

My eyes widen, but nothing escapes my mouth. Nishikujou proceeds on: "Should you find and destroy the Key successfully, you can prove yourself to be capable of rejoining Guardian's ranks once more. But even if you don't, I think it's important that you find your own path, away from the inevitable fate that awaits all of humanity..." Her voice drifts away, until I can hear it no more.

I stand there in deep thought. Nishikujou knew she couldn't control my decisions, so now she's letting me decide what I want. Well, the answer should be obvious, right? I have two targets, and if memory serves me correctly, they should be hanging around the same place. The question is, am I up to the task? Is it worth risking my life to hunt down the Gaian girl and the will of the Earth unassisted?

As far as I'm concerned, I died the moment I lost Imako. What's left of me banks on whether or not I take down the people responsible, and that includes the Key. This is my last mission, and even if I come back alive, Hitomi Shinsaibashi will never be the same person again.

* * *

The chirping of cicadas and the crunching of leaves are the loudest sounds I hear in this unsettling forest. My nerves are steel, and my mind solid ice. If I stay in this forest any longer, though, it might melt into slush. Every step closer into the woods is maddening, as I swear I keep hearing things that aren't there. Just stay calm, Hitomi...Stay calm...

 _Hitomi..._

I turn quickly towards the mention of my name. It's only a faint whisper, but I feel my heart burning inside. I know this voice, but I don't remember who it belongs to. My hand instinctively reaches for my gutting knife. "Who's there?"

 _Hitomi..._

From a different direction, another whisper draws my attention. The sound of crunching leaves under my feet seems to grow louder as the voices of the forest try to stray my mind away from the soul-burning whisper. "Who are you?!"

 _Hitomi...my child...Hitomi..._

I narrow down the direction of the sound, with my eyes resting on a very clear cut path down a part of the forest unfamiliar to me. I feel attracted to it, not through the voice, but by the warm feeling in my chest. As I take the first step down this path, I feel my heart swelling up, like how a hot air balloon fills up and lifts itself as hot air blows into it. It's a feeling I don't recall experiencing, but am still attracted to, like chasing after a lost memory.

"Mother...?"

I've forgotten this feeling, simply because I've never felt it since...that fateful day.

 _Mommy...what's a familiar?_

I hear another voice I don't recognize. A child, perhaps no older than five years of age. I don't see anyone on this path, and it seems every voice in the forest has died away to make room for these other voices. I continue walking, letting this scene unfold aurally.

"Mommy? What's a familiar?" The child asks her mother with appropriate curiosity for her age.

"Well, Hitomi, they are friends to us," the mother explains to the young girl. "We use them to do things we cannot do by ourselves. In return, we must take care of them."

"Can you teach me how to make one, Mommy?" The little girl asks in awe. "I would like to have a friend."

The mother chuckles with joy. "Of course I can."

The child's willingness to learn became her greatest strength. She and her mother worked together on the simple craft of making a doll out of scrap materials. Their bond grew as a result, and one day...

"That should do it," the mother exclaims.

"Yay! A new friend!" The girl cheers. She makes noises like a bird, implying that their creation is some kind of fowl. The girl laughs at the mere accomplishment of creating one of those wretched monsters summoners use against their enemies, with no clue of its true purpose. Perhaps the mother avoided telling her child what its actual purpose was, because she wasn't ready to know the painful circumstances that came with it. But then the mother speaks up.

"Come here, Hitomi. Let me show you a neat trick."

"A trick?" The child's curiosity kicks in again. I hear the flapping of tiny wings, and a child's gasp in amazement. "Wow...can I do that, Mommy?"

"When you're older, I will tell you," the mother declines.

"Aw, I wanna know now! Please~" The child begs her mother.

"Well..." The mother thinks about it.

At that point, the voices stop. The pathway ends, in front of a clearing with more mud than grass. A massive tree takes up a great deal of space within the clearing, and despite being a Cutter-type, I can detect some signs of recent human habitation. Someone lives here, but who?

It's then that I see it: a shadow of a creature I know all too well, the ultimate trophy of any Guardian agent. It's escaped me once, but it will not escape me again. I reach for my knives...

"Oh, you're here. I guess that saves me a bit of trouble."

Reflexively, my left hand bares itself on the neck of the voice's origin. With hostile eyes, I behold the girl, with sharp blue eyes leering at me under a Gaian summoner's coal black cloak. Instead of lowering my blade, I press it against her neck to intimidate her. "Two targets in one place...makes my life a whole lot easier."

"For your sake and Tanuma-kun's," she argues for herself, not the least bit intimidated by the pressure, "I ask that you lower that blade."

"Imako's dead," I refuse. "Which gives me every reason to kill you and the Key."

"Are you still angry about that?" She yells at me. "How is this revenge if Tanuma-kun was responsible for his own death? You only have a qualm against me because 'I couldn't save him'. You need to get it in your head that he sacrificed himself to make sure we got out okay."

"I...I can't accept that!" I slash towards her throat, but a force is pulling me back. I look at my arm, and I see a red ribbon keeping my hand from drawing blood. Suddenly my legs are constricted as well, and I am raised into the air. From below, the Gaian girl walks closer and looks up to me.

"You can struggle all you want," she muses. "But I'm afraid the Key won't let go until you listen to what we have to say."

"Let me go!" I move around, trying to force myself out of these bonds, but the Key's ribbons are strong. They seem to wrap around tighter as I keep wiggling around, placing a further constraint around me.

"Now, as I was saying," the Gaian girl continues. "It's actually a good thing you came. I would have fetched you myself, but it seems fate has brought us together again."

"What do you want with me?!"

"I assume we're both seeking the same thing," she answers. "We all lost something when he died, that poor wuss. I wasn't expecting him to sacrifice himself either, but I knew that if we didn't escape, we would suffer a similar fate."

"Better that than to lose him! You Gaians are all the same, a cancer to humanity!"

"Shut up," she scowls back at me. "Summoners are no less human than superhumans. Tanuma-kun would think the same thing if he were here. If all you want is to quench a little thirst for blood, you're better off going back to Guardian and killing other Gaians instead of looking for him."

"What...do you mean?" I pause struggling for a moment to listen to the Gaian girl's words.

"The Key who now binds you approached me just yesterday," she explains. "It has sensed that some part of Tanuma-kun still exists, but in a different form. Closed space is not a suitable environment for activating Salvation, so while he might have taken root in the stony ground, it is only a matter of time before his tree dies, either from lack of nutrients or the scorching heat. Sound familiar to you?"

"You mean...like Matthew 13: 5-6?" The scripture is familiar to me, but not as much as other, more skilled Guardian members.

"Exactly," she replies affirmatively. "Tanuma-san can still be saved. We just have to act fast, or he will wither and die."

My eyes widen. Imako can still be saved? Can we really bring him back with us, and restore that peaceful life that we once had and cherished? I would do anything for that, although I still don't know if I can trust this Gaian girl. "I'll go on one condition."

"Don't make my life harder than it already is," she replies in a rude manner, before breathing a deep sigh. "Name your terms."

"I want full custody of Imako, if and when we find him," I tell her. "If this all happens to be a lie, I will personally escort you to Hell."

"That's not my decision to make," she smirks. "It is Tanuma-kun who shall decide where I go, be it near or far." I grit my teeth and squint at her in anger, but she just chuckles. "Very well. But you must do exactly as I say until we find him."

I nod, and the ribbons come loose. I land on my hands and feet like a cat, and stand up dusting myself off. I take a look at the Key, who gives a blank stare in my direction. I breathe a sigh, and turn to the Gaian girl with untrusting eyes.

"So, where to first?"

* * *

The three of us trudge through the forest, towards the destination Imako never reached. Branches and leaves do their best to obscure our path and drive us mad with all the forest's sounds. But the Key knows these places all too well, like a sixth grader in an elementary school. A child of the Earth, in a playground for familiars, shows no sign of joy or attraction to its surroundings. Familiars are tools, built to carry out the tasks of their summoner. They have no sense of humanity, and they never will.

"Hey, party pooper. You're dragging your feet." The Gaian girl denies me the right to take things slowly and think about my situation. Her insensitivity increases my intent to tear her apart, but I silence myself for the sake of Imako. Once I find him, I won't have any need to speak to her anymore.

"My name's Chizuru Hanaoka, by the way," she introduces herself. "I would appreciate it if you called me by name instead of 'Gaian girl' all the time."

I don't answer, because I don't care about what her name is. The names of Gaian summoners aren't worth remembering. They're all going to die by my hand anyways.

All of a sudden, we stop. The Key seems to turn its head from left to right, as if looking for a path. Does it even remember how to leave the forest? I'm tempted to ask, but I keep silent. I'm no Hunter-type, but I can at least tell that we're facing southwest, and we're some distance in the same direction from Kazamatsuri. Also, judging from the degree the sun is facing, it is almost evening. We may have to camp in the forest until tomorrow...

That's when Chizuru turns with sharp, hostile eyes to her right. I look in the same direction and, out of the corner of my eye, I spot a Guardian Hunter, just poking out of a tree, pointing a bolt-action sniper rifle directly at the Key's head.

"Get down!" I instinctively scream. Chizuru knocks the Key to the ground, while I hide against a tree. The loud gunshot following just barely misses its mark, and I hear a cursing from over the tree.

Hunter-type superhumans are known best for one thing: their ability to scout prey. Their weapons vary, but they usually prefer to kill in the shadows, using long-range weaponry. Even if the Key escapes, there may be others nearby that he can warn. We can't leave him alive long enough to do that. It saddens me to have to plan something like this, but if the Key dies now, I lose my only chance to find Imako.

I dash off as quickly as possible around the trees, hoping to provide a distraction. It's hard to aim a sniper rifle at a moving target, but it should still alert him that someone else is in the area. I climb up the tree where the bullet originated, hoping to catch him off guard. By the time I get up there, I see the rifle being pointed straight at me.

BANG!

The gun fires, and the bullet pierces my left leg. I don't have the time to scream in pain. In a fit of anger, I toss my hunting knife at him, wedging itself in his skull. Both our bodies fall onto the ground like ragdolls, unable to move for much longer.

* * *

I feel hazy, like I've transcended my body but not fully gotten used to my surroundings. I can't feel anything, and my vision is blurry. Even my hearing is garbled, as I can only hear muffled talking. I close my eyes, putting my focus on the sounds beyond the fog of sleep. Or am I dead?

 _Hi...mi..._

Mother?

 _Hitomi..._

Is that you?

 _Hitomi...my child...Hitomi..._

I'm scared, mother...I don't know where I am...I don't know what to do...

I feel warmth, not from the sterile haze I am trapped in, but from within. It's a comfort I haven't felt in years...something I lost sight of for a good, long while. It's then that the voices become clearer, more pronounced. I can hear crying...the crying of a child who has lost something precious.

"Mommy..." The child whimpers. I can hear the faint sound of tears falling to the earth like raindrops.

"What's wrong, Hitomi?" The mother asks with concern.

"My friend won't move anymore," the child blubbers in between her tears. I hear the sound of creaking and the stroking of feathers.

"It's okay," the mother comforts her. "We can make another one."

"But I don't want another one!" The child throws a tantrum. "I like this one!"

"Then," the mother answers, with a hint of sorrow in her voice, "I'll go fix it for you."

The child sniffs. "...Really?"

"Yes," the mother affirms. "I'll take it with me to work, and I'll see to it that it gets fixed before I return home."

"Thank you," the child exclaims with joy. "Thank you, mother!"

At that point a loud noise, not unlike the boom of thunder, makes me jump. My eyes are forced open, and I behold a terrifying sight. A child with short teal hair cries over the body of an adult, in the middle of a forest glade. The dark sky threatens to strike anyone in its view, either with rain or with lightning. But the child does not move. Her tears stain the clothes of the adult. In the only visible hand of the adult I can see a mangled bird puppet, similar to the familiar I saw Chizuru with.

Thunder booms again, and the child looks upon the moonlit hill. My eyes turn there also, and I see the figure of the Key, staring blankly at the scene. The fierce wind brushes her short silver hair over her eyes, and I can see her mouth forming a subtle, but sinister smirk.

Lightning flashes, and I awake screaming. "AAAAHH!"

The Key jumps a little at my scream, but Chizuru sits still beside the campfire. The forest is dark, and the trees do well to hide the starry sky beyond their tall stature. The heat of the fire and crackling of the firewood ensure me that my senses have returned.

"Oh, good, you're up," Chizuru issues a nonchalant greeting to my awakened self. "Bad dream, I presume?"

"More than that," I answer, holding my woozy head in one hand and a pained leg in the other. Something's in my leg that shouldn't be there. "Did I...get shot?"

"Yep," Chizuru answers. "I'm no doctor, but I managed to at least remove the bullet and get a bandage on that sucker."

I look on the bandage. It's perfectly wrapped around the wounded area. But that just raises another question: "Why did you help me?"

Chizuru turns her gaze to the fire, saying nothing. She breathes deeply at least twice, and I start to wonder if she's ignoring me. It's then when she speaks up.

"I don't know if you remember the day we first met, but I could tell right away that you had something to do with Guardian. But something about you seemed different from the rest. The look in your eyes wasn't that of a battle-hardened warrior. Rather, it looked more like a child trying too hard to become one."

"How about I show you just how much of a warrior I am?" I angrily answer her. I try to stand up, but the pain in my leg keeps me down.

"Save your strength," she answers me. "I wasn't addressing you as you are now. I've seen how capable you are since then, but my first impression was that you were close-minded and hostile. But while I avoided talking to you, Tanuma-kun reached out to you like the idiot he was."

"I can toss a knife at you, you know," I interject. Ignoring my threats, she continues.

"I figured he was lucky, owing allegiance to no one. It must have been so easy for him to join Guardian's ranks, especially after knowing the fact that he despised the teachings of his father. I can't even fathom how he must have felt the day he left us..."

Chizuru hangs her head, as if...she's actually feeling remorse for her past actions. My face releases its tension, wondering if there's more to her than what I've seen already. "...Chizuru?"

As if catching herself, she continues with a serious expression. "But what's happened isn't important anymore. We're bound under a common goal, and that common goal wouldn't want to see his sacrifice go to waste, right? Gaia and Guardian, they're not important now. Do I need to remind you of the bullet I pulled out of your leg?"

"Ergh...No, thank you," I groan, trying to move my wounded leg to a comfortable position. I'm not even sure it would heal by tomorrow, but perhaps something can be done about the stick in the mud and block of wood by the campfire. Provided it doesn't take too long for dinner to finish cooking, I can recover my strength for the long day ahead of us...

* * *

Hello! EisenKoubu here. I wasn't quite sure initially whether to focus on Hitomi or Chizuru for this next arc, but then I remembered that this story is largely about Hitomi, and I felt Chizuru overshadowed her in the last arc in terms of development. So, this and the next chapter are largely about her! Hope you like Hitomi, because we're in for a wild ride in the next chapter! Thank you all for keeping up so far! :)


	9. December 7th

"Hurry!"

Chizuru pants heavily behind the Key and I as we tread quickly through the dark woods. I feel a tad piteous toward her, but her poor speed is slowing us all down in the process. What makes it even harder is that we've been running all night from Guardian agents. Chizuru and I are exhausted, but if they catch up to us, they won't hesitate to take the three of us down. We need a plan...

"Wait...up...!" Chizuru gasps.

"Hey, Key! Can you carry Chizuru?" The Key turns to me in response and shakes her head. Crap. Looks like someone's got to stay behind and fend off our pursuers. "Chizuru!"

"Huh...?" Chizuru looks at me with an exhausted face.

"Run on ahead! I'm going to provide a distraction!" I yell out. "Key! Can you cut down some trees?" The Key nods, and slices down three nearby trees. As they come down, I turn around and pull out my knives, adjoining the handle ends together into a propeller shape.

"I won't let you take away Imako from me, you bigots!" My hands twirl the blades. Faster, faster...soon the bark of the trees splinters off and flies at hurricane speeds towards the shadows of our pursuers. This is my power, with no particular name assigned to it. It allows me to harness the power of the wind, an invisible and tangible mass, using a focused blast of deadly aerodynamic force. For the layman, it's like a sideways tornado, chaotic and unsafe to be around.

The bark shards fly like needles towards the shadows, tearing them apart like paper. The screams of Guardian agents sounds both enthralling and ear-grinding to listen to, like death metal cranked up to full blast. I never liked Guardian's agents, as they were never truly accepting of my presence. For a long time, I felt chained by my past, unable to leave the safety and scrutiny of Guardian's hostile working conditions.

But am I truly free?

Was leaving Guardian and starting from scratch really the right thing to do? Nishikujou sure felt that way, but now I'm starting to wonder if she only said that to relieve herself of the responsibility of taking care of me. She is my only stake in Guardian, and if I were to remove myself from her trust...

I see hordes of Guardian agents waltzing in from all sides, ready to take me out in a swift motion. I can only aim in one direction, and if I stop to turn now, they'll just come in from the other side. Is this the end for me?

"Imako..." I close my eyes, stop spinning my blades, and let fate free my soul from its earthly prison.

* * *

 _Well...Hello again._

 _It's been a while since we last met._

 _I told you to stop relying on me so often._

 _It's taking a toll on your soul._

 _Salvation is imminent...you know that._

 _The more you rely upon me..._

 _Such weakness destroys you._

 _Find your strength in someone else._

 _I cannot help you anymore._

 _The next time you sacrifice yourself..._

 _You had better have your bags packed._

 _Hitomi...you lonely child...Hitomi..._

"...Hitomi! Say something! Wake up!" A familiar voice throttles me awake.

I feel shaken, far more exhausted than after I fell asleep. I should have been jumped on and slashed to pieces, but she saved me. I don't know who this person is that has preserved my life these past few years, but now even she chooses to forsake me. It only makes me feel more guilty about forsaking the past, almost unwilling to carry on.

"What on earth were you thinking?!" Chizuru's screaming face comes into view. "I thought you were going to die! We wouldn't have been able to bring back Tanuma-kun!"

Tanuma...kun?

Oh...that's right. Imako Tanuma. The man I promised to stay by until we reached the gates of hell. Since when have I forgotten that promise, my only direction? Betrayal, broken trust, forgeries of friendship...why should that bring me down when my only salvation requires my help?

Never again.

"I'm...okay," I answer with a weak smile.

"Well, thank the holy woman," Chizuru sighs in relief. "Can you stand? We're only a short distance away from our destination, and I need a tour guide."

"Uh...sure," I mumble as I stand up. My legs wobble a bit under the weight, but soon hold themselves steady. The bitter cold wind settles in as we continue our trek, and it becomes abundantly clear that these clothes aren't going to cut it.

"Hey, can we stop at the store? I need to buy some warmer clothes," I ask Chizuru.

"No detours," she rejects the request. "This may be Gaian territory, but if they see you in that getup, consider yourself dead. Again."

I sigh, and wrap my arms around my core to maintain warmth. These are going to be a tough few miles...

* * *

By late sunrise (about ten hundred hours by my estimation), the familiar wooded area becomes visible to my eyes. Many of the once-flourishing trees have shed their burden by now, and the ground is littered with dead leaves as a result. Otherwise, the quiet forest village is just as we left it.

"Where to, tour guide?" Chizuru asks.

"Umm..." As I rub my arms together, I try to recall where we are in relative position to the old house. After three months of doing other stuff with Imako, it's natural to have a spotty memory of this place. I think back to that day, when I was young, brash, and less trusting...

I remember standing by a forest, nervous about something. Imako had gone in by himself to check out the school. I sent him a message telling him to hurry up, hoping that he would just simply answer the message. In order to calm my nerves, I started back on the path to where our chopper landed, right next to Imako's old home.

"We have to find the old schoolhouse," I conclude. "Once we get there, I can easily find our way to his old house."

"Okay, where's the old schoolhouse?" Chizuru asks.

"A little deeper into the forest," I answer. "Follow me."

Chizuru and the Key stay close, watching carefully the placement of each of my footsteps. I feel an ominous presence, tempting me to turn around. Nevertheless, I press forward, not about to let what's behind me bother me anymore.

In no time at all, we stumble upon a familiar barricade, at least to my knowledge. This has to be the same construction tape Imako crossed to find the school...and where he found the Key.

"Past here is the old schoolhouse, where he found..."

"I know, I've heard everything," Chizuru finishes for me. "The Key is telling me that it's in there. Good call, tour guide."

"Are we actually going in there? I thought we were going to his old house..." My memories of the horrible feeling this place gave me returns to me. I dread going into the obvious Gaian trap, even though Imako might be there.

"This is closer," Chizuru responds. "I remember hearing the old schoolhouse had a cyclone trap set up to keep the Key contained. There should still be a functioning portal into closed space here, if they didn't have the foresight to close it beforehand."

Chizuru lifts her cloak and steps around the danger tape as carefully as possible. The Key simply floats over it, while I jump over it, as I did when I last came here. My survival instincts kick in quickly, and my eyes and ears become attuned to every sight and sound as I step in this place once more. If I were in one of Imako's video games, this is my last life. I had better not waste it.

* * *

With the cyclone trap disarmed, it is easy to see the sun above us as high noon rolls around. The old schoolhouse seems to be in the same disrepair as before, perhaps even moreso. I can hear the creaking of its foundations from outside the clearing. The building sounds set to fall any second.

"Let's go in," Chizuru tells us.

"Are you crazy?!" I yell at her. "That thing looks ready to fall apart!"

"All the more reason to head in," she assures me. "If it falls apart, the closed space entrance will likely collapse too. And I really don't want to walk all the way to the residential area with the Key close by. Come on, let's go."

Very carefully, we sneak inside the rotting building, and my muscles tense up with every creak. I must look like such a nervous wreck right now. Come to think of it, does the Key detect or even feel fear? I imagine not. A familiar is not designed to feel the same as humans do.

Chizuru soon stops in the middle of the hallway, turning her head slightly to the left as if focusing on a faint sound. She then turns to her right, and kicks down the door. The whole place shudders as a result, making me jump.

"Calm down," she assures us, pointing to the opened doorway. "It's in here."

A blacker void than the darkness we stand in lies beyond the doorway, an unsettling silence characterizing it. I feel even more afraid to go in than I did when I entered the forest. I step back near the wall, unable to fathom the path before me.

"What's wrong?" Chizuru asks me. Even the Key turns her head towards me, awaiting an answer with that blank stare.

"I don't...I don't have the strength to enter in," I mutter, shaking my head. "There's nothing there...how do I know I won't fall into the abyss?"

"Do you want me to prove it to you?" She offers, stepping inside the void. Indeed she stands inside, as if floating in mid-air. But it does not move me. Chizuru sighs, and steps back in, laying a hand on my shoulder. "I can't make you go in there, but you won't get to see him unless you cross the void. Are you really willing to pass up an opportunity to see him, just because you're afraid of the dark?"

"I'm not afraid of the dark," I tell her. "I'm afraid of...death."

"So why were you looking for it back in the forest?" She asks me. "Death is an enemy you can't win against. You can only delay his victory. I assure you, you will not die if you go in there."

"I still don't want to go in there," I tell her, shaking my head furiously.

"Do you want us to carry you? Here, come on." She picks me up and hoists her arm around my shoulders. She gestures to the Key to do the same. I can only watch, wide-eyed in surprise at this gesture.

"All ready?" She asks me. Without waiting for my answer, we step into the darkness.

My feet hover just above the 'floor', with both the Key and Chizuru putting their weight into making sure they are. I see nothing above me, nor below or to the side. Right in front of us is a faint light, our only hope. Imako has to be in there, or this quest...this alliance will all be for nothing.

As we emerge into the light, the familiar city of Kazamatsuri...seems not so familiar anymore.

"Holy..." As Chizuru and the Key put me down, I look at the devastation that has laid waste to the synthetic stone city. Whole buildings have been torn apart, alleyways broken into, and other foundations conquered by ugly brown roots. The aftermath of Salvation is an abomination to my eyes. I cannot bear to look at it any further, so I turn to Chizuru.

"This is indeed worse than I expected," Chizuru comments with a grim tone. "The roots are withering fast. Even the Key senses the tree's death is close by."

"How does the Key even talk to you?" I ask her.

In response, Chizuru points to her head. "Telepathy. It probably doesn't trust you yet."

I can imagine why...I tried to kill it the last time we met, and I highly suspect it has something to do with the death of my mother. I can't fathom being on good terms with it.

"Now's not the time to remind ourselves of grudges," Chizuru alerts us. "Hitomi, do you remember the spot where Tanuma-kun told you to leave?"

"Um...I think so?" I don't feel so confident about where he might be, but I know it has to be close. I'll scour this entire city for him if I have to. Honestly, how hard can it be to find a tree?

* * *

"...Phew, finally found him," I pant.

Turns out his tree didn't grow very large, so I had to remember where I had left him. It took us quite a while, although I'm not sure how long since time doesn't move the same way in closed space. His tree is still magnificent and healthy-looking, at least two sizes taller than me. But I know this won't last long. But there seems to be one problem.

"How are we going to move this tree?" I ask Chizuru.

"It's not so much moving as it is manipulating closed space to get him out to a suitable area for growth," she explains. "Tanuma-kun is dying the way he is now, so we will have to open a temporary portal between the ground here and the ground outside the schoolhouse. I'll have to go back outside and construct the portal, and I need you and the Key to remain here."

"What?!" I shout, completely appalled by the idea.

"This is part of the reason why I had to bring you with me," Chizuru continues. "The Key cannot manipulate closed space, but you can. You've told me yourself that you haven't forgotten the teachings of Gaia, am I right?"

Her wicked smile forces me to acknowledge my misstep. Indeed, I still have not forgotten my parents' teachings, but I have long neglected them out of fear, for a Guardian agent with Gaian ties is unheard of. My powers must have grown faint with the passage of time. How can I undertake a task like this?

"You're asking me to do something I have never done before in my life," I answer Chizuru. "I can't manipulate closed space!"

"Indeed you can," Chizuru tries to convince me. "Think of closed space the same as you would any other familiar. Find a spot on the ground to form a contract with, and then tell it to rip itself open. Simple." She starts to walk away, seemingly satisfied with herself. But she soon stops in her tracks. "Oh, by the way...whatever you do, do not...I repeat, DO NOT accidentally form a contract with the tree. It will prove disastrous for all of us. You got that?"

I nod, unsure of myself but willing to follow her instructions to a T. Once she leaves, I take a look at the Key, who just stares blankly away from my gaze. I think it's best that I don't bother her. I take a deep breath, and close my eyes, filtering through my memories to remember the proper way to form a contract. I run my fingers along the ground, taking note of the pieces of rock and withered plant life along the ground. But I don't feel any sort of pull. I make a clean sweep of the entire area, but nothing in this desolate piece of trash wants to react.

 _Try a little more to your left._

A faint, unrecognizable whisper penetrates the hollow of my mind. I feel just as compelled to follow it as I am to question it. I move my hand over as the whisper suggests, making sure not to open my eyes lest I break my concentration. Indeed, I feel a faint tug, like a magnet running close to a polarized metal object. Without checking to see what it is, I focus on that particular spot.

 _The idea is to search for a place where your fingers feel like they're sinking into it. If you're capable of controlling familiars, there's no way you can miss it._

The words of my mother flow into my mind. I remember the first familiar I brought to life. A bird, small and cute, yet monstrous and capable of combat. The simplest kind of familiar appeals to the instincts of animals. I must prove myself beyond that to finish the contract.

I feel something warm and sticky envelop the tips of my fingers, before the sensation disappears. "Contract complete." I stretch forth my hand, and open my eyes, visualizing the earth ripping itself apart and falling through empty space to eventually emerge directly next to the schoolhouse.

That's when things go horribly wrong.

Instead of a clean hole in space like I thought about, the roots of the tree lifted themselves up from the ground, and pushed against it to lift the entire thing up. I can feel its strain on my body...this is a difficult thing to control. I feel like I'm being sucked dry of my own blood...

The tree is ignorant of my suffering, instead forming a red summoning circle underneath itself to send itself who knows where. The Key approaches it slowly to accompany it, and as soon as both of them vanish into empty space, I relinquish my contract on the tree. Exhaustion doesn't even begin to describe how I feel. I feel like I tried to lift a car when I can only bench press a rice ball. I can feel my consciousness draining away...again.

"No..." I cough out. "Ima...ko...needs...me..."

With weak legs, I lift myself off of the ground, stumbling forward to the massive crater in the ground. I can't see the bottom, so I assume there's no heading back where this is going. With the last of my strength, and a prayer in my heart, I leap into the abyss below.

* * *

 _Hello again, Hitomi._

In a pool of darkness amidst transient light I face a shadow, a reflection of myself in word and deed. I know exactly what's in store for me, and as we are the same, so does she. We represent two different ideas: the truth, what I see myself as now, which the shadow before me represents. I stand as the ideal, what I see myself becoming. The past is behind us both, but now it is time to decide the future of Hitomi Shinsaibashi.

 _You've denied who you are multiple times, shunning everyone you come across. What makes Imako so different? He left you for another girl, lied to you, and even died to avoid returning with you! How is he worth pursuing?_

"Imako did those things in good faith! He saved my life in more ways than one. He didn't leave because he didn't like me; he left because he needed answers! He wasn't satisfied knowing nothing about who he was! Everyone has the right to ask for the truth!"

 _In seeking the truth, he was willing to give up everything he had, including you._

"Which is exactly why it was necessary to remind him. People are forgetful creatures, which is why it's necessary to stay close and reach out to them!"

 _Are you willing to risk your life to help a selfish individual?_

"Imako would never deny me!"

In speaking these words, I draw my knives and charge forward, ready to slice apart my shadow. But the shadow anticipates this, and fights back in the same stance. Our blades clash, filling the silent emptiness of an endless pit with the shimmering of noise. Each swift move is perfectly counterbalanced by an equally-quick action, one side never dominating over the other. It isn't a fight over what's right or wrong, but an intense, violent decision process over a course of action. There will never be another Imako, yet there will always be someone better than him. I have to decide whether it is worth investing my life into everything he does, as I had sworn when our contract was first made.

 _You will fall..._

I will rise!

 _A prison of darkness is a fate worse than death._

Even Hell is a mercy compared to this.

 _The fall of a parent does not mean the end of life._

The fall of a friend does not mean the loss of the future.

 _Anger, sorrow, fear..._

Acceptance, joy, courage...

 _The world may hate us..._

And we may hate ourselves...

 _But if we let them control us..._

We forget how to atone for our mistakes.

 _We are together again._

And nothing will separate us...

 _...save ourselves._

"We will save Imako, no matter what it takes!"

With all my might, I thrash myself into my shadow, and the room illuminates with bright light.

* * *

I awaken to a brilliant evening sky, cloudless and without any sign of the sun. I don't know if this could be called a natural phenomena or a miracle. All I know is that I am alive, and whatever pain and exhaustion I felt is gone. I feel refreshed, almost completely new. But I am still me.

I sit up and look around, eventually catching sight of the large tree to my right. Now in fertile soil, it seems to stand proud and beautiful, although still somewhat frail. Perhaps it isn't so easy to reject the past after all. It is a large part of us, anyway.

I see Chizuru and the Key looking at the tree, presumably admiring its beauty. As I stand on my feet, I almost trip getting used to walking again. That's when Chizuru turns around, and sees me standing in front of her. Her face is one of astonishment, as if she presumed earlier that I had died in accidentally disobeying her order. I can only stand here and wait for her answer as she walks up to me with an ever-increasing look of disappointment.

"You awoke the tree, didn't you?" She asks me.

I nod in response.

"Well, thank the holy woman you're alright," she answers my honest response with a sigh of relief. "I suppose you understand why it was dangerous to do that?"

Once again, I nod.

"I'm actually rather surprised you survived through that," she confides to me. "That tree would have killed your average summoner after moving a single root. Maybe two or three if they're lucky."

I look at her, then at the tree with surprise and awe. I moved and transported that tree all by myself, and it nearly killed me. If that kind of power rests inside me, what does that say about me as a summoner? Could I possibly become one, detached from the influence of both Gaia and Guardian?

"Better to use that power for more practical use," Chizuru cautions me. "Come. It's time to summon him."

"Summon who?" I ask.

* * *

I float not in darkness, but in colorful light.

The domain of the Earth is filled with waves of wispy light and shimmers of sound. Beyond the light are vast patches of darkness. The Earth is dying. The Key was born out of the Earth, and from the ashes of Salvation, I am reborn.

Imako Tanuma is now an agent of the Earth.

In trying to deny the prophecy foretold by the Key, I have bound myself to the will of the Earth. If it dies, my new vessel perishes with it. The Key must be saved for a special purpose, and neither Gaia nor Guardian must be allowed to touch it. In this sense, I am now the only hope the Earth has.

But...something still bothers me. An image of a woman long forgotten, flashing before my eyes once I gave up my mortal shell. Who is she? And how significant is she to my life? I can't remember much about her, save that she loved me very much. Fragments of images can only show me so much...I need the complete picture. I need to know who this person is.

And so, armed with the forces of the Earth and the only memory that remains of this loving woman, I awaken into a deep twilight sky without a sun.

The first sight I see after two months' rest is the faces of dear friends. Thank the holy woman they survived. They seem to have changed somewhat in the time I left them behind. Hitomi-san seems more sure of herself now, and the fact that she and Chizu-san are cooperating makes me happy. Perhaps surrendering to the Earth wasn't a bad idea after all.

Chizu-san is the first to step forward once I materialize, and with a face of awe...she slaps me against my cheek. "Idiot! You left the both of us alone for two months! What were you thinking?!"

"Sorry," I respond.

"You'd better be!" She then proceeds to hug me, and her voice starts to deteriorate into a whimper. "I missed you...so much...The Key isn't as satisfying to yell at..."

"The Key?" I move my gaze over to the silver-haired girl-like creature sporting a blue aura and ribbons. She wears a expression of distance from everything around her, and yet her eyes are fixated on me. It seems she was an agent in my rebirth as well, being a servant of the Earth like myself.

And then my eyes reach Hitomi-san.

She, too, is tearing up at the sight of me. They aren't sorrowful tears, but happy ones. I smile back at her, and she slowly rushes to hug me as well.

"Hey, get off, Hitomi!" Chizu-san snaps at her. "I'm not finished hugging him yet!"

"I can hug him, too!" Hitomi-san argues back. "I actually have more of a right to hug him. Wasn't that our agreement?"

"Just give me a chance! I wanted to see him as much as you did!" Sparks form between the two girls. If I don't do something quick, they'll start killing each other.

"Why don't you just hug either side of me? I don't mind it, really."

The two girls scowl at me for a bit, then nod begrudgingly. I walk down the base of the tree with Chizu-san hugging my left side and Hitomi-san hugging my right, both snuggling happily like kittens. What have I gotten myself into?

* * *

With everyone's help, we manage to form a small campfire in the same clearing by the tree. Chizu-san is put in charge of cooking dinner, while Hitomi gathers firewood. I use debris from the abandoned schoolhouse to make a small circle to contain the fire. The Key just stands there and watches.

When night finally falls, we sit around the circle to discuss our plans and catch up on past events. I am especially curious to know why the Key was after me.

"So, why did you guys come back to get me?" I ask. "You must all have your reasons."

The crowd falls silent for a few short seconds. Surprisingly, the Key is the first to speak.

"The prophecy is not yet complete," she utters. "You must bring your followers to a new earth."

"...What is she talking about?" Chizuru sounds just as stumped as I am, but the Key is quick to clarify.

"The Messiah shall help bring about the end of all things regarding human conflict. Those that remain and wish to reform, he shall bring to safety upon new earth. That is the prophecy regarding Imako Tanuma."

"That sounds vaguely familiar," I answer upon pondering the words. "Although I don't think it was worded like that..."

"I was in the process of comprehending humanity's simpler form of language when we last met," the Key explains. "Now that I am able to understand, I can convey the full prophecy unto you."

"Well, I'm no Messiah," I adamantly tell the Key. "I just want to ensure the safety of my two best friends. Also, there's someone I need to find before I do any Messiah-ing at the moment."

"...Messiah-ing?" Chizu-san gives me a look like I'm crazy.

"Who would meet you?" The Key tries to reason with me. "Every human wants us all dead. If you went into enemy territory right now, you would cause a ruckus."

"I don't care," I yell at the Key. "Either I go where I want to go, or not at all. No prophecy is going to change my decisions."

Chizu-san sighs, but Hitomi-san stands with a serious expression in her piercing red eyes. "I will go with you. If anything, I want to protect you while I can."

"You're the one who needs protecting, Hitomi-san," I reply to her. "As I can tell, the contract with this vessel is split between you and Chizu-san. If either one of you die, the contract will become unstable."

"Meaning?" Hitomi-san asks.

"It will place a greater strain on the body than it already does," Chizu-san finishes. "It might not kill me, but it will very likely kill you."

Hitomi-san's head droops in sorrowful thought, depressed by this realization. "Then...what do I do?"

"For starters, learn to fight smart," Chizu-san tells her. "Don't dive in recklessly and expect to come out unscathed. You may have done that at least twice now, but don't expect to live next time we battle."

"She's right, Hitomi-san," I tell her. "You can still fight, but be cautious."

Hitomi-san sits back down, obviously not happy about her circumstances. Chizu-san then starts to speak up about her reasons. "My father is still imprisoned, although chances are Guardian may have killed him already. I would like to see for myself, and perhaps convince my mother to come with us."

"So that's why you chose to wake me," I infer, and she nods.

"You're my only hope," she tells me with a melancholy face. "I don't have the strength or resources to save him, and if it weren't for Hitomi, I would have never gotten this far." Hitomi-san looks at her with wide eyes in response. Perhaps all she needed was a little 'thank you' from her friends.

"Is that so?" I comment as I smile at Hitomi-san. "Good job, Hitomi-san."

In response, she turns red as a beet, perhaps flustered by the sudden praise she received. "I-i-it's n-nothing, really..."

"Then I guess it's settled," I exclaim cheerfully as I stand up. "We'll take a detour to Kazamatsuri in search for this 'new earth'. Surely, you will grant us this, Key?"

"You may go," it accepts. "But I will not go with you."

"Why not?" I ask, confused.

"You are not the only pawns in this game," it tells me as it stands up to leave. "Farewell, Imako Tanuma. We shall not meet again." And with that, she disappears into the endless black forest.

* * *

EisenKoubu here. I managed to finish the next chapter pretty quickly, so I figured I would wait a while before posting this. Sorry to keep you guys waiting~ :P

Now, I admit this chapter is a little crazy, but man, was it fun to write! My aim in writing this chapter was to clearly define the differences between each of our three protagonists, as well as build upon Hitomi's character. Whether or not it came out okay is up to interpretation, but I think I did reasonably well. Now that Imako's back, the craziness is going to slow down a bit for some more character development, which I hope you look forward to in the next chapter! Thank you all for reading up to this point! :D


	10. December 9th

Our journey back to Kazamatsuri is not without interruptions. The three of us look like a ragtag team of RPG protagonists, so it's natural that we look so conspicuous. Guardian agents are attacking us from left and right, and their attempt to pin us down seems more organized and focused than your average ambush. I assume Hitomi-san knows something about this?

"Ask me later! Just clear a path for us!" Hitomi-san gives an order, and I follow as the contract demands. I raise my hand, and the trees bend themselves to my will. I come up with every creative way to kill using tree roots, from impalement to constriction to asphyxiation. The latter means choking to death, by the way, either from simply strangling the neck or reaching inside to blow apart the air pipe.

With every death piling up on my account, I reflect on how little control I have over this. I hate killing, but I lost the freedom to act upon it when I lost my earthly flesh. The vessel I reside in is a creation of the Earth, a near-perfect replication of the human body. What it lacks is the ability to rebel against the contract. It's a miracle I've retained everything else, and perhaps it is a fair trade. But I fear what my mistresses will ask of me...

Hitomi-san and Chizu-san, however, are putting far more effort into their fighting than I am. Chizu-san seems to be juggling around her metallic bird familiar like a yo-yo, mowing all enemies in her path. It looks more like a carefully choreographed dance than any kind of battle training I've seen. Hitomi-san, on the other hand, prefers brute force over finesse, dicing opponents as quickly and brutally as possible with her combat knives. It hasn't changed at all since the last time I saw her fight, which worries me. I want to help her, but my priority is clearing a path to escape. I push away the enemy with a wall of wild roots, giving us a clear shot to Kazamatsuri.

"Go!" I yell to the others.

We immediately break for the opening, fleeing from the pursuing agents. I send a shockwave back to shatter the roots apart, turning them into petrified debris. It should slow them down for a short while, so we have to make every second count.

* * *

"Hah...Hah..." Hitomi-san pants heavily, moreso than Chizu-san usually does after running for this long. We aren't quite out of the forest yet, and Guardian Hunters will find us if we don't hurry.

"I'm surprised...we haven't...run into any...summoners yet," Chizu-san observes as she catches her breath. "Perhaps...we're too close...to Guardian territory...to interfere."

"Getting caught by either side is dangerous right now," I warn them. "As soon as you catch your breath, I suggest we move fast."

"I wanna go home..." Hitomi-san squeaks.

"The hotel room is also too dangerous," I tell her. "We need to find better shelter."

"How about we stop by my house first?" Chizu-san suggests. "I can at least get Hitomi changed, and you can borrow some of my father's clothes."

"We can't stay there," I answer her. "Once we get the clothes, we leave."

Chizu-san nods in response. We hear the rustling of leaves nearby, and immediately start running again. Kazamatsuri has to be close by...

By the time the first light rises in the sky, we catch a glimpse of the outskirts of Kazamatsuri. Perfectly exhausted from all the running, the girls stumble inside like moths to a flame. Guardian must have expected this, because a perimeter is set around Guardian territory. We can't cross without fighting more agents, so either we take the long way around or flee to another town.

"What do we do?" I ask.

"We walk around, of course," Chizu-san answers.

* * *

It feels like forever before we reach the Gaian entrance, and as soon as we step in, Hitomi-san falls over like a ragdoll. I rush to her side quickly. "Hitomi! Are you okay?"

"Uhhhnn..." Hitomi groans. Patches of dirt and blood are splattered all over her body, and I assume everything that's happened over the past couple days has exhausted her.

"She needs a rest and a shower," I conclude. "Does your bathtub still work, Chizu-san?"

"It should still be there," she answers. "But I don't think we have running water anymore."

"We'll have to draw water from a nearby lake, then," I whisper to myself. I hoist Hitomi-san's light body over my shoulder, and turn to Chizu-san. "Can you lead us to the house?"

* * *

I remember the halls of the Hanaoka residence like I had visited it yesterday. They were largely the same as my father's own house, but with the obvious difference in decoration and furniture arrangement. I remember the Hanaoka family as fairly functional, although Chizu-san had a bad habit of avoiding the sight of my face when addressing me. I assumed for the longest time that I was ugly or lazy or incompetent to her, but now I know the real reason. We could have been mistaken for brother and sister otherwise.

"Chizu-san, where's the bathroom?" I ask.

"Down the hall, directly on your left," she tells me, stoic in tone. "I'll clean her up."

I find the bathroom soon after. It's a fairly small and plain-looking Western-style bathroom, but like the family that lived here, it works. I lay Hitomi-san's limp body in the white porcelain tub, and rest my eyes upon her sleeping face. An exhaustive sorrow runs through the vessel I inhabit. We've been through so much, and yet we've only just met again. There seems to be no rest for the wicked, and Hitomi-san has succumbed to the pressure. She's a strong girl, but I fear she overestimated her strength.

"Are you going to come out or what?" Chizu-san steps in, now cloakless. It's been a while since I've seen her short red hair, and the blue eyes shine far more without the cloak. Taking into account the dark long-sleeved shirt and dark jeans she's wearing, she looks like a different person entirely.

"Yeah," I respond, moving out of her way. Chizu-san shuts the door firmly behind me.

I decide to look out the window for a bit to pass the time. Clouds seem to be gathering in pretty thick, anticipating to release their accumulated water onto the earth. The Earth needs a bath and rest as much as Hitomi-san does, I think to myself.

Looking away from the window, I catch a glimpse of a family photo resting on a doily upon a small glass table by the TV. I reach over to pick it up, and take great care not to break it. The plain wooden frame showcases a photo of the Hanaoka family in a large grassy field with a clear blue sky, with a younger Chizu-san...smiling.

"How did I miss this picture?" I utter to myself. I have never seen Chizu-san smile honestly before. Her smiles were rather uninviting and cunning, so it's a surprise to know that she once had something to smile happily about. I don't know what could be in this picture that she would smile about...

That's when it hits me. There's only one thing in this picture that could possibly matter to her: her parents. I remember her anger at Suzaki's rejection to her request; it was legitimate rage, stemming from betrayal and disappointment. She must love her parents very much, if she's going out of her way to do all this. As much as I would like to see my own mother again, seeing Chizu-san so emotionally tied to her parents makes me wonder if I wasn't raised properly...

The bathroom door opens, and Chizu-san steps out. I quickly set the picture back on the table before she can face me.

"She's done. Don't go in until I've dressed her, though." I nod silently at her request, and she heads to another room to find a change of clothes for Hitomi-san. I feel compelled to follow her.

"Chizu-san?"

"What is it?" She asks.

"This might be a stupid question, but...how much do you love your parents?"

Chizu-san stops gathering clothes, and turns to face me with eyes of fierce hatred. "The two people who gave birth to me...they are the center of my life. My parents are my best friends." Without warning, she punches the wall hard with her free hand. "That stupid Suzaki! He let my father rot in Guardian's interrogation chambers, and now I don't know whether he's alive or dead! I can't just sit here..." She slumps down to her knees and starts crying loudly, letting Hitomi-san's change of clothes fall to the floor. "Mom won't come out of her isolation...I've tried several times...I have nothing to work with anymore...!" She inhales before screaming at the top of her lungs. "WHY DOES EVERYTHING HAVE TO WORK AGAINST ME?!"

I can't help but look away to avoid tearing up myself. I check my eyes for tears before suppressing my own feelings. I care for Chizu-san, which inevitably led to caring for her parents. I knew the Hanaoka family, but never talked with them as much as I did with Chizu-san. I always got the impression her parents were strict, but it seems her anger is self-made. I don't want to antagonize Gaia or Guardian, but the people that turned us down and attacked us are hard to forgive. Chizu-san is a true Gaian, blaming everything but herself for her problems. But her love for her parents is what makes her not Gaian. She's just a person like everyone else, with her own view of life and her own baggage to carry. If anything, I would like to help carry that with her. I want to help her free her father and restore her family. I walk forward, and speak a simple truth.

"Chizu-san...I'm here for you. You don't need to be alone in this. You've worked hard enough already."

Chizu-san turns to me with teary eyes, and replies in a whimpering voice. "...You're full of crap...but you're right." She attempts to stand, but doesn't seem to find the strength. I take her hand out of reflex, and pick her back up. She looks at me again with teary eyes, and embraces me, her lower jaw resting on my left shoulder. It kind of hurts, to be honest. But I have to remain strong, for her sake.

"Say, Chizu-san," I ask, softly. "When we rescue your parents...can I be your brother?"

"...That's all you want?" She asks, sniffing. She giggles a bit, making me assume it's out of the question.

"I'm sorry," I apologize. "It was a stupid request..."

"No, no," she relaxes. "I was just expecting you to ask something else." She stands back on her own two feet, releasing the weight off my shoulder. "You don't really have a family anymore, so...I guess we can work something out."

I never got to see her smile, but at least I managed to make her laugh a little bit. I try to imagine her laughing, and it warms my heart. When this is all over, I want to see her laugh again. No matter what it takes...

* * *

Hitomi-san is still unconscious after Chizu-san dresses her in a black t-shirt and boyish shorts, so I decide to watch her sleep on the couch while Chizu-san showers and changes herself. I can hear her soft breathing, and I see the rise and fall of her abdomen. She has a lot to process, and I think she deserves this rest.

But her soothing, peaceful breaths are so distracting. I honestly wish there were more people in this house I could talk to, so I wouldn't have to clear my head of perverted thoughts. Her clean body really emphasizes her external beauty, and it's making my blood boil.

"I need to go to another room..." I leave Hitomi-san behind and walk over to the front door, resting my head against it. I need to find something to talk to, something that will keep myself sane. I close my eyes, as if praying to some unknown god.

"Mom," I start, imagining what my mother might look like if she met me now. "I've taken upon myself so much. There are two girls who need my help, and I want to help them. I feel a bit distracted, though. They're both such beautiful girls, and my feelings for them have not changed since I died. I feel the need to comfort their troubles. Please, Mom...can you help me decide? Can you tell me where I should go from here?"

I never expected an answer, at least not an immediate one. But I hear something akin to a whisper, or a subtle thought that pierces my heart and soul.

 _Stay the night, and go to the Harvest Festival tomorrow._

The Harvest Festival? Wouldn't that be too crowded? We might get suddenly overwhelmed by summoners, or even worse, we might get separated. I want to dismiss it as just a thought, but it's so powerful an impression that I can't help but feel I must do it. Together, with Hitomi-san and Chizu-san.

"...Imako?" I turn around upon hearing Hitomi-san's voice, and I see her standing just a small distance from me, wearing her new clothes. She seems worried about me.

"What is it? Did you sleep well, Hitomi-san?"

She nods. A soft smile manages to form on her face. "I feel like a new person...Did you wash me, Imako?"

"Ah, no," I deny quickly. "Chizu-san did. She would have had a fit if I did it." I chuckle dryly, but Hitomi-san seems a little dejected at this revelation. My smile vanishes into a look of confusion. "Wait...did you actually want me to wash you?"

"I would have liked it," she admits, blushing a bit. "But I guess Chizuru still did a good job." I couldn't agree more. I don't know how to wash a girl, so Chizu-san did a much better job than I could have done. Besides, I don't think that's really appropriate for me to do unless we get married, and she's already turned me down in that regard.

After an awkward silence, Hitomi-san gathers the courage to say something. "So...why were you talking to the door?"

"Oh...well, I needed something to talk to," I answer honestly. "And for some strange reason, it talked back."

"What did it say?" She asks.

"To go to the Harvest Festival tomorrow," I answer. Her eyes widen in surprise.

"The Harvest Festival?! You mean the Gaian celebration in the middle of the city? We can't be caught dead going through there!"

"I know," I try to appease her. "But I have a strong feeling about this. So now..." I walk past her, eventually settling back on the seat I left earlier. I breathe a deep sigh and ruffle my hair with my right hand. "I need to figure out which one of you I need to take for a date."

"It should be obvious! Not even Chizu-san would go with you!" Hitomi-san yells at me.

"Go where?" Chizu-san steps out wearing two large white bath towels, one wrapped around her head and one around her body. The towel around her head is distracting enough to warrant not looking down.

"We're...going to the Harvest Festival tomorrow..." I utter while perplexed at the sight.

"The Harvest Festival?!" She shakes off the towel around her head, revealing a scruffy, wet mess of red hair on her head, along with a serious yet passionate expression. "If she isn't going to the festival, I'm coming with you!"

"Guess that's settled then," I shrug. As much as I want to go with Hitomi-san, if Chizu-san is more willing to go, I have no choice. Hitomi-san scowls at Chizu-san, aware of this fact.

* * *

 _Interlude: Hitomi  
_

"Do you need anything before I turn out the lights?" Imako looks at me with a concerned but still pleasant demeanor. I'm starting to feel like I'm his surrogate child now, rather than who I would like to be. Imako means so much to me, and if I don't see this to the end, Chizuru will get him instead. Who knows what they've done while I've been unconscious?

"Can you sit by me for a while?" I want him to grant me this one mercy before I lose him to the night. He walks over and kneels by my bedside, gazing at me with a warm smile.

"Did you want to talk about something?" He asks me.

There was a question that dwelled in my mind for a long time, ever since he brought the topic up. A lot has happened since then, but I don't think there's anything to decide anymore. So, I bring it up again, taking a deep breath before doing so. "...Do you remember the day when you proposed marriage?"

A dry smirk stretches across his face as the thought comes back to him. "Yeah...I guess it was a stupid idea to suggest that. We're honestly still too young, and you have your limitations, and I have to respect that."

"Well...that's actually not what I meant," I explain. "I didn't feel mentally prepared to answer that question. You hit me with a brick I couldn't dodge because I didn't think you had one."

"So, you didn't feel ready yet?" He asks me.

I nod. "When you...turned into a tree, I had to accept how much I missed you. It took a great deal of strength to bring you back, and I decided that, when all this is over, I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"...What are you getting at?" He asks, clearly curious.

"Can you...propose to me again?"

Imako's eyes widen in shock, which leads me to believe I broke him. "Um...Imako?"

"Huh?! Oh, right," he snaps out of his trance, kneeling on one knee and clearing his throat. "...Hitomi, we've been together for a while now..."

"Just get to the point," I glare at him. Nervously, he recollects himself and clears his throat again.

"Hitomiwillyoumarryme?!" The confession comes out high-pitched and too fast to catch. But I get what he's trying to say.

"Yes," I say firmly. Again, his eyes widen in shock and awe. A wide smile slowly stretches across his face, which soon explodes into a joyous laugh. Suddenly, he starts dancing around the room like a child on Christmas morning. When he finally stops spinning, he turns to me and calms down.

"Oh man," he breathes out. "This is...this is wonderful! You've saved me a bunch of trouble."

"Really?" I ask, puzzled. "How?"

"I was split between you and Chizu-san for a moment," he explains. "But this changes everything."

"You were actually considering marrying Chizuru?!" Perhaps I'm overreacting, but the fact that Chizuru almost bested me in something other than combat or logic is jarring. But this soon gives way to relief. I breathe out again in silent gratitude for the courage to ask Imako.

"Well, I guess this also decides who's going to the festival with me," Imako concludes before turning to me with a great big smile. "I hope you're ready."

...Oh, crap.

 _End of Interlude_

* * *

Ayy~! EisenKoubu here. Did you guys like this chapter? This one's more of a character development chapter than anything, trying to improve the characters' bonds with one another in time for the final leg of the journey, occurring next chapter. It's hard to believe that this story is drawing to a close soon. We've been with these characters for so long, and honestly, it's hard for me to end this story, too. Maybe I should adapt it into a fifty-volume manga or something... :P

Anyway, thanks for reading so far, and I hope you look forward to the penultimate chapter of Messiah! :D


	11. December 10th

Upon arriving at the harvest festival, all three of us stop in awe of the massive scale of this event. Rows and rows of stands lined with endless amounts of streamers decorate the place. Intercoms are blaring some annoying modern pop tunes, and the noise of the crowds almost overwhelm my ears. I'm not sure of how large Kazamatsuri's population is, but there must be hundreds, if not thousands of people. What makes me feel uncomfortable is that the majority of them have some ties to Gaia. I'm sure Hitomi must be feeling just as nervous about trying to blend in with a crowd of people she doesn't like. Chizu-san, on the other hand, shows no sign of fear whatsoever. Despite the fact that she's not smiling, she looks like she enjoys being here.

"Ah, the harvest festival..." Chizu-san deeply breathes in the surrounding air. "I smell some good food. Who's up for some fried dango?"

"Fried...dango?" Hitomi and I both look at her with odd expressions.

"It's an American practice to deep-fry everything, and it's delicious!" She screams passionately at us, pointing towards one of the stands with vigor. "You have not lived until you have at least tried fried ice cream!"

"Yeah...sure," Hitomi and I nod awkwardly in unison. Neither of us have any idea how Americans got the idea to ruin fine Japanese dining, but I guess how you take it differs from person to person. Chizu-san seems to love it, so maybe it's worth trying.

Upon approaching the fried ice cream stand, Chizu-san reaches into her back jean pocket (which is quite possibly the worst place to put things in), and pulls out a small hand purse. "Two fried ice creams, s'il vous plait," she orders. Is fried ice cream a French invention?

The man at the stand quickly serves us the treat, and Chizu-san puts her hands together in fervent prayer, uttering words I can't make out. She then dives into her treat, finishing it in seconds. A mild smile stretches across her face for a brief moment, before she starts yelling for a second helping.

"She must really like it..." Curious, I bite off a small bit of the external cake batter. It tastes like a baked sugar cookie, with cinnamon-tasting ice cream hidden inside. It's a unique blend of sweetness that would make any sweet tooth weep tears of joy. Final verdict: it's good.

"Hey, Hitomi..." I turn around to ask Hitomi if she wants some, but she's disappeared. All of a sudden I start panicking. Where could she have gone? Is she being kidnapped? I highly doubt that, since she's capable of defending herself. But my mind refuses to be at ease. I have to find her.

"Hitomi! Where are you, Hitomi?" I call her name multiple times, hoping to find her in this massive crowd. I should have been aware that I was leaving Chizu-san behind in the process, but she's not as likely to lose her way by herself. At least, I hope so...

* * *

 _Interlude: Hitomi_

I was drawn away by a familiar sight. I could recognize Nishikujou anywhere, but I never expected her to be here, at a Gaian festival. I notice she is wearing her teacher disguise, so I assume she's here to monitor students and socialize with them. And she's clearly enjoying herself...

I feel hesitant to approach her, simply because I've strayed so far from Guardian that she might take me for an enemy. I'm prepared to kill, but in front of a crowd of hundreds? It's a losing battle for me either way.

But she spots me anyway. A frown stretches across her thin lips, as if confirming to me that I made a mistake coming here. A surge of people briefly blocks out any more chance of eye contact, and next thing I know, she's gone. I want to go after her and speak to her, but I know not where she went. For all I know, she may be off calling for reinforcements to capture us. I have to warn the others.

"Imako! Chizuru!" I call out their names, trying to head back the way I came. But the crowd is getting so thick that it sweeps me off course. I try to fight against it, but am knocked down and stepped on. I scream in pain, and the crowd immediately thins to get a good look at me. Crap, now I'm the center of attention.

"Hitomi!" I hear Imako's voice close by, and witness him push through the crowds, rushing to my side. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm okay...for now," I croak in agony. "Nishikujou-sensei is here...and she knows I'm here."

 _End of Interlude_

* * *

 _Interlude: Chizuru_

Where are they? I finish three fried ice creams and the two of them just run off? Talk about passionate. Well, better go find out where they're making out.

The crowds seem pretty thick today. It wouldn't be a good idea to just dive right in, although I can't just standing here. Perhaps I can find them with my scout bird...

I have to hide somewhere. If a civilian ever caught sight of a girl summoning a bird, there's no doubt it would lead to questions I can't answer. I run behind one of the stalls. Making sure no one sees me, I call forth my scout. A red summoning glyph materializes on the pavement, and an inconspicuous-looking crow floats into sight. I touch it to renew the contract, and send it flying. I close my eyes, switching my view to that of the crow's.

The feed's in black and white, but it's clear enough that I can see the individual faces of every human on the street. The bird circles around, and I try to spot Imako, since he would be the most recognizable. The bird can't hear very well, although from my own hearing threshold I pick up a scream. I feel tempted to break the connection to see what is going on, but I need to find Imako first. That's when I see the crowd clearing up.

Right in the middle is Hitomi, and approaching her is the gray-haired figure of Imako. Neither one seem to be in any particular danger, although...out of the corner of my eye...

"A Guardian agent?! Here?!" He's fairly concealed, with a sniper rifle aimed directly at Hitomi. I have to stop him!

"Hey, who's out there?" I feel a pressure on my back. If the stall owner finds me, it's all over. I have to act fast. I order the fowl to kamikaze the hunter's face, then break visual connection. I stand up quickly and bow my head to apologize.

"Sorry!" I apologize quickly.

"Hey, lady, if you wanted more ice cream, you gotta go up front," the guy reminds me. "Don't trap me in there." And he walks off. I breathe a deep sigh. Perhaps I should go order another fried ice cream...

BANG!

As soon as I hear the gunshot, I see the ice cream guy fall straight down to the ground like a ragdoll, a dark red puddle of blood slowly pouring out from his chest. As the man bleeds to death, the thick crowd screams and scatters about in a panic.

All I can do is breathe a deep sigh of regret. "Well, there goes that idea."

 _End of Interlude_

* * *

"What the heck was that?!" I ask loudly, shocked by the commotion.

"They're already after us! Come on!" Hitomi pulls me away from the crowd, running back towards the ice cream stall. By the time we get there, though, Chizu-san is already gone. Frantically, I search around for her.

"Chizu-san! Chizu-san!" I call out.

"What?" She answers in an annoyed tone, walking into the stand from the back door. "Did you come for more fried ice cream? You'll have to ask the corpse out back."

"No!" Hitomi yells. "We came for you! We've got to get out of here!"

"I know," she answers. "I need to go make a new scout bird when we get home, too."

"We already decided we can't go home anymore!" I remind her. "We have to head directly for Guardian HQ to free your father, remember?"

"I haven't forgotten, but we still need a base of operations," she answers. "More importantly-"

A silence falls as the ground shakes from a near-inaudible shockwave. Everyone stops dead in their tracks to turn to the forested hills beyond Kazamatsuri's borders. A beacon of light signals a brief flashback to my backlog of memories, a fierce tremor forming in my heart and legs.

"Salvation..." I utter.

"What?!" Both of the girls look at me in utter disbelief.

"There's no time! We have to leave now!" I scream.

"But what about my parents?!" Chizu-san shouts.

"Honestly, it may have been a mistake all along to come here," I answer, perhaps in not the most reasonable way. "If we don't leave now, we'll be caught in the blast!"

"Don't you dare say that!" Chizu-san rebukes at me. "I did not come here just to leave my parents for dead! Either we get them out now, or I surrender myself to the Earth's will!"

"I agree with Chizuru," Hitomi defends her. "As much as I want to live, if I ignored the welfare of a friend, I could never forgive myself. Still, if it's in your best intentions to leave, I will follow you."

"You guys..." Amidst all the chaos in the background, I can't help but lower my head, torn by a difficult decision. I have little time to act, so I chose what I feel is right. "Alright, let's go save them."

* * *

Our first step is to infiltrate Guardian HQ and free Dr. Hanaoka. Chizuru decided that I would stay outside to cover their escape, while she and Hitomi would infiltrate the building to rescue the hostage. Strategically, it's a solid plan, since I can cover a wider range with my attacks, but at the same time, I wish I could have gone in to see her father myself. Oh, well. I guess I'll see him eventually, provided the plan works.

I set up a field outside GuarGuar to extend my roots around, and wait. Since the city will be devastated by Salvation anyway, it does some good to set a little foundation for some of the infiltrating plants. All I have to do watch out for incoming agents...oh, there's one.

A cloaked woman emerges from the alleyways fairly slowly. I'm tempted to leave my station and help her, but she could very well be an enemy. She turns to me, and I see a smile stretch across the only part of her face I can see.

"Why, hello again, Tanuma-san," she addresses me. "Perhaps for the last time..."

"You...What are you doing here?" I ask.

"Kazamatsuri is my home," she responds warmly. "I have family and friends here, and it's not within my power to just leave them behind. But...you still have a chance. You and Hitomi have a future together."

"Why can't you come with us? You can be part of that future!" I offer her escape, but she shakes her head.

"I have a lot to confess to you, Tanuma-san," she tells me with grief. "Do you know why I gave you the ticket three months ago?"

"You were trying to recruit me into Guardian because of my powers?"

"I knew Hitomi's mother," she answers. "Strange as it may sound, I was once part of Gaia, too. The robes you see me wear are those of a Gaian summoner. Although I have lost my ability to use familiars, I was able to watch the growing Hitomi from a distance. I knew how much she suffered, so I made a deal with an agent named Nishikujou to find her a suitable friend to take care of her."

"So you're her godmother?" I take a guess, left eyebrow raised.

"You could say that," she answers. "In my point of view, I'm just an druid who serves the Earth in my own way."

"That's oddly specific," I comment, eyebrow still raised. "Why serve the Earth if you're not part of Gaia anymore?"

"I just hold different beliefs," she explains. "It isn't the will of the Earth to destroy humanity. Salvation is happening solely because humanity is lazy, ignorant, selfish and forgetful. They aren't doing their part to sustain the Earth. There are some exceptions to the rule, so we did have some chance to prove ourselves. But Kazamatsuri has become like Sodom and Gomorrah, wicked in every sense of the word. But you are Lot, the only righteous man in the city. You and your friends must flee this place, lest Salvation consume you."

"But I can't flee yet," I tell her sorrowfully. "My friends are still in Guardian HQ..."

I look up at the ominous, darkened sky. The light of Salvation is slowly expanding, and at the rate it's going, it seems we might not make it to save Chizu-san's mother in time...

"Imako!" I hear Hitomi's voice behind me. I turn around and see her, along with Chizuru and a fairly old dude who I assume is Dr. Hanaoka. They rush towards me, and stop only to see the impending spectacle soon to overcome all human life in this forsaken city.

"So this is Salvation," Dr. Hanaoka observes. "I never thought in all my years I would ever live to experience it..."

"We have to rescue Mother!" Chizu-san impatiently interjects.

"I fear it might be too late for her," Dr. Hanaoka grieves. "Salvation has likely reached Gaia Headquarters by this point. We must seek shelter or we will be consumed as well.

"How can you say that?!" She yells at him. "You don't want Mom to die, do you?!"

Dr. Hanaoka falls silent. Chizu-san grits her teeth and tears up, looking just about ready to scream at him. In the middle of this commotion, I notice that the lady has disappeared without a trace. I look around for her, but all I see is a letter stuck underneath my shoe. As I pick it up, Hitomi approaches the frustrated Chizu-san, hoping to comfort her on the matter. "Chizuru...isn't your father enough?"

"No...It's not enough..." Chizu-san starts sobbing instead. "I want my family together again...I want my mother back!"

On the front of the letter, I read the words: _'_ _Do not read until you reach these coordinates:'_ along with a set of coordinates I have no understanding of. Maybe Hitomi would know something?

"Chizuru, we can't go save her," Hitomi tells her softly. "We'll die here. Would your mother want that?"

"Shut up! I want her back!" She starts screaming at her. "Why are you acting like my mother has no say in all this?! You don't have parents!"

"You're right, I don't," Hitomi responds. "And neither does Imako. But we're still alive. And I think our mothers can rest peacefully knowing that we're safe."

"Uh...yeah," I concur, to prove Hitomi's point.

"But...but..." Chizu-san starts breaking down, and before she can form any more words, so does the city. A great tremor can be heard as the ground starts cracking underneath us. The tops of buildings start breaking down as the light of Salvation crawls closer to our position. I turn to the others with a determined face, in contrast to their terrified expressions.

"Hey, Hitomi," I ask her. "Do you have any idea where these coordinates might lead to?"

I show her the letter, and her eyes widen.

"These are coordinates to a Guardian shelter," Hitomi answers, surprised. "Where did you find this?"

"An old friend of ours gave it to me before you came," I tell her. I'm a little adverse to tell her everything immediately, and Hitomi raises her left eyebrow in confusion. "Think we could make it before the light hits us?"

She nods affirmatively. Dr. Hanaoka seems eager to leave as well.

"We'd better get going, then! Lead the way, Hitomi-chan!" Dr. Hanaoka resolves himself.

"Father?" As Chizu-san tries to ask him about his reasoning for sheltering with the enemy, he speedwalks after Hitomi in the direction of the only available exit from Kazamatsuri. The rest of us follow suit, running as fast as we can. With teary, longing eyes, Chizu-san looks in the direction of her old neighborhood. I just pray she can get over the loss of her mother.

* * *

And now I, EisenKoubu, finish my record concerning the destruction of the people of Kazamatsuri. And it came to pass that Imako and his friends did successfully escape, unknowingly fulfilling the prophecy which the Key had foretold. Although he had saved but a handful of people, his actions have preserved the future of generations to come.

The rejuvenation of the Earth is the will of the Key, and it seems to have been done. For now, the Earth will live on for the remainder of this loose family's lives, and to them, that's all that matters.

I am humbly grateful to those who have read this story so far. It means so much to me when people read my stories, and so much more when they tell me whether they like it or hate it. But don't tell me yet! The epilogue draws near...


	12. Epilogue

March 11th

It was a difficult three months inside the Guardian shelter. In addition to people giving us nasty looks, the shortage of food and supplies halfway through along with less-than-ideal living conditions brought an end to the lives of some souls. What didn't help things was the occasional childbirth, which put an even greater strain on our food supplies. Hitomi and I agreed that we shouldn't have kids until we got out of that, but that didn't stop us from getting married. The ceremony wasn't fancy or anything, just an exchange of vows followed by a kiss. The Hanaoka family (what's left of it, anyway) were honored guests at the informal ceremony.

Speaking of which, Chizu-san never got over her mother's death. She spent a great deal of time crying and brooding in a corner, starving herself half-to-death in a corner. It took some encouragement from all of us, but mostly Hitomi, to get her back on her feet and eating supper with us. Hitomi's compassion towards Chizu-san slowly changed the latter for the better, and she decided to live a life that would make her mother proud. I don't have a clue what that would be, but Chizu-san seems a little happier now. Dr. Hanaoka learned from her of our agreement to become 'siblings', and while he laughed at what he called a 'childish idea', he happily accepted me into the family.

Now that we can finally come out, it's about time we started things anew. The entirety of Kazamatsuri shows a little bit of greenery here and there, but for some reason, most of the buildings are intact. The streets definitely took the most damage, so hopefully there are enough people left in the world to repair them.

"It looks so different now," Hitomi observes.

"Yeah," I respond. "It looks like this won't be a good place to live for a while."

"But where would we go?" She asks me, puzzled.

"I wonder..." Assuming Salvation hasn't touched it, there's really only one place we could go that's not too far for Hitomi and the others to walk. Whether they agree or not, I feel it's a suitable place to bring up a child. After all, I was born there.

I dig my hands in my pockets, where I come across a piece of crumpled paper I don't recognize. Pulling it out and unfolding it, I remember the day I met that cloaked woman. She left this letter before taking off to who knows where. Chances are she's probably a tree now, poor soul. I am curious to know what she wrote inside...

"What's that?" Hitomi asks me.

"It's the envelope that got us to safety," I refresh her memory. "There's a letter inside."

"What does it say?" She curiously asks.

 _To Imako Tanuma_

 _Do not fear for my life. Trust me when I say I am alive. Even if Salvation takes my body, it is a separate entity from my spirit. I am always with you._

 _I am aware of your feelings for Hitomi, and I do encourage you both. But I must warn you of the consequences of your temporal union. You may not notice this yourselves, but future generations will have to deal with the responsibility of being tied to the Earth. You know what I mean, Tanuma-san. As a servant of the Earth, you are bound to the will of your contractors. The strange blood you possess will curse your family for generations, doomed to become Earthen abominations._

 _Do not think this is your fault. It will be a great burden to Hitomi, but I know you can lead your children to become as strong-willed and kind-hearted as you. If you falter, do not fear. Your mother will be watching over you, as will Hitomi's._

 _I pray that we will meet again, either here or beyond our lifetimes. Perhaps in that day I could see Hitomi again..._

With no signature at the bottom, I lower the letter from my face and turn to Hitomi.

"Who was it that gave you that letter?" She asks, puzzled.

"I don't know," I answer. "But she led me to you, so I can only say...she's a friend."

"How does she know about our mothers?" She questions, looking even more puzzled.

"Beats me," I shrug. "She said she knew your mother, but I don't know about mine."

As the both of us try to puzzle to ourselves who this mysterious person might be, Chizu-san and Dr. Hanaoka wave to us from the long line of people leaving the shelter. Looks like we'd better go and tell them where we should go.

* * *

December 15th

Dad (that is, Dr. Hanaoka) and I decided to take a walk to see how construction on Kazamatsuri is doing. After all, we can't really bother Chizuru while she's delivering. Man, I get shudders just thinking about it.

"Are you okay?" Dad asks me.

"Uh...yeah," I answer unconvincingly. "I'm just a little nervous."

"I know how you feel," Dad sympathizes with me. "You know, on the day Chizuru was born, I was flipping out. Never had a kid before, and I wasn't sure what to expect at all. So I took a walk in the park to calm my nerves, and at some point, I thought I could hear a voice telling me that my daughter would play part in a task beyond her, saving lives or something in the name of the Earth. I never would have believed it would come true..."

"You heard a voice?" I ask.

"Well, not so much a voice as it was more of a powerful impression," he answers. "It actually felt comforting, like my late mother was whispering a lullaby to me, bless her soul."

"Hmm..." I remember the impression I got over a year ago, right before Salvation occurred. I get the feeling that some benevolent force was guiding us on a path to true salvation, a life better than the one we lived in back then. I pray silently in my heart, thanking whomever it was for the guidance, hoping she would get the message.

"Ah, here we are." As I look up, I see the tall structures of Kazamatsuri almost as new as they were two years ago. There are still visual and audible signs of construction, but the city looks almost back in working order.

"Think you'll be moving back any time soon?" He asks me. Without waiting for an answer, he responds to his own question. "I probably should. I'll have to pay my respects to the missus, poor girl. It's hard to lose a woman that beautiful, you know?"

"Perhaps," I answer, chuckling. "I'm sure Chizuru took it pretty hard, too."

"Oh, anyone's going to fuss over their mother dying," he comments. "I can't replace her, so I'll have to do the best I can to raise her until she's grown enough to live on her own, like the both of you."

"That shouldn't be too long," I point out. Just as I say that, my new smartphone starts ringing. I pull it out of my pocket and take the call. "How's it going, Chizuru?"

"Delivery's finished," she pants. "Dear lord, that was hard work." I didn't expect her to be the one panting, though.

"Is Hitomi okay?" I ask.

"Yes, she is," she answers. "She looks far more tired than I do. It doesn't make me excited at the prospect of having kids myself..."

"Oh, yeah! How's the baby?" I ask.

"She was crying a minute ago," she responds. "Now it looks like she snuggling softly with her mother."

"It's a girl?!" I scream into the phone. I hadn't bothered to check the gender while Hitomi was pregnant, so it was definitely a surprise to me. Heavens, I have a daughter! I feel like telling my neighbors!

"Hold your horses, Aniki," Chizuru replies. "You may want to come see for yourse-"

Without hearing the rest, I hang up the phone and start running back. Dad starts following me as best he can, wondering why I'm so excited. "What happened? What did she say?!"

"MY FIRST CHILD IS A DAUGHTER!" I yell from the top of my lungs. I don't care if my voice echoes across the entire city. My happiness cannot be contained any longer. For the first time in my life, I feel as if God is smiling down upon me.

* * *

 _Simulation complete._

 _Report: the Earth has successfully rejuvenated, and humanity is able to start over. Subject Imako Tanuma has fulfilled his role, despite some complications. The future will last a fair while before the Earth requires Salvation once more. Conclusion: This is the most successful run so far. Preparing for instigation of final solution._

"Wait."

 _What is it?_

"There's a variable I want to change first."

 _Any change to the current simulation will yield a less-than-desirable outcome._

"But if this change succeeds, I think it may bring about a better result."

 _How can you be so sure?_

"Trust me. I know Imako better than you do. He will know what to do."

 _...Very well. What variable would you like to change?_

"Fifth day, exactly 1:32 in the morning. Suggest action variable A instead of B."

 _...Done. But why this part?_

"Imako thought he could only receive the answers he needed by straying away from those he held dear. That cost him his mortal life. If this works, he may just have the patience to understand who he is a little better. Don't you agree?"

 _To be honest, I think he'll remain an idiot either way._

"He may be somewhat misguided, yes. But he's still my..."

* * *

EisenKoubu here for the last time! I know I sound like a broken record by now, but I can't thank you all enough for reading my work! I loved working on this story, although I never expected it to be this long. It's kind of a testament to how poorly-thought-out the structure of my stories gets after a while, but improvisation tends to be more entertaining for the writer sometimes. 8)

This is the end of Messiah proper, but who knows what I might be doing next? I may come back to this universe if Harvest Festa or some other novel gives me some ideas, although I also intend to focus on writing more original stuff (which you won't see here, unfortunately). Whether you like this wonderful story or think it's a piece of trash, I'm at least glad I was able to get the readership I got after writing and posting this story. Once again, thank you so much! :D

EDIT - 1/22 : I added an extra bit of epilogue to this epilogue, and removed the tie-in to Terra after receiving feedback from a couple kind readers. As you can guess from the new ending, I decided that I'm not done with Imako's story yet! Imako has a chance for a better future than the one he got here, but will he take that chance? Find out as we go back to that fateful decision on October 4th, and see what lies in store for this alternate future!


End file.
